Pokémon: Konoha Region
by Sand Fox
Summary: A remake of my original fanfic, Pokémon Konoha. Follow the journey of Pokemon trainers Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Hinata Hyuga as they start their adventures and travel through the Konoha Region, aiming to become Pokémon Masters! This story is set in the Pokémon world, using characters from the Naruto Manga.
1. Chapter 1: The Journey Begins!

**Disclaimer**

Let me just start out with the standard Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Pokémon, or any of the associated or mentioned franchises/companies, and I am not making a profit on this.

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**Author's Note**

This is a redo of my old fanfic, _Pokémon Konoha_. I did not like how directionless and overly complicated that fic got, so I've decided to give it a clean slate. Hopefully, I'll do better this time around. I do not plan on making things identical to the way they were before, but I'll have plenty of similarities and nods to my old work. There will also be changes, as you'll see soon, so its best to view this fanfic with new eyes. Once again, if someone wishes to continue the _Pokémon Konoha_ fiction on their own, by all means, you are free to do so; you may ask me questions as to where the story was going, or do your own thing. God Bless you all, my faithful readers.

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**Review Response**

Thank you everyone for your warmth and support with _Pokémon Konoha_, and I hope _Pokémon: Konoha Region_ lives up to its predecessor's fame and popularity.

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Pokémon: Konoha Region

Chapter 1

The Journey Begins!

The Uchiha Family Compound was a perfect place to host a private celebration. It had a spacious yard, a well-tended garden, and was surrounded by high walls that shielded its inhabitants from prying eyes of Oakcrown City. Which is exactly what the Uchiha family and their Uzumaki guests wanted.

It was the first day of spring following the 12th birthdays of the sons of the two families, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. Today, the two boys would start their long-awaited Pokémon Journeys. They could have already started, as both had turned 12 a few months ago, but it was considered safer to start in the spring rather than in the late fall/early winter. Besides, Sasuke's father Fugaku pointed out that the first day of spring was an auspicious day for starting journeys (he was not truly superstitious, but he was a traditionalist who thought such things brought good fortune).

Currently, the two families were outside sitting at a table under the shade of some trees. For Naruto, this included his father Minato Uzumaki (who had taken his wife's maiden name), his adoptive grandfather, Jiraiya, as well as his uncle and aunt, Yahiko and Konan Namikaze. Naruto's mother, Kushina, was getting the cake she had baked in celebration of the day out of the oven. For Sasuke, his parents, Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha were present, as was his young uncle, Obito Uchiha. Unfortunately, Sasuke's elder brother, Itachi, was unable to see Sasuke off on his Pokémon Journey. As the newest and youngest member of the Elite Four, having earned the position just last fall, Itachi was needed almost day and night by the Konoha Pokémon League officials. In fact, he had moved out of the Uchiha home and into his new quarters at the official League Headquarters, due to being on-call at all hours of the day. Having been close to his brother, Sasuke was disappointed but he was mature enough to understand and accept things the way they were.

Itachi wasn't the only important member of the two families; in fact, aside from the two boys, just about everyone present was noteworthy. Fugaku was Chief of the Konoha League Police Forces, not to mention Head of the Uchiha Family, one of the most important and influential groups in the region. His wife, Mikoto, looked to be a simple housewife but she was actually an S-Ranked Gym Leader, specializing in Dark-types (Itachi had learned as much about battles from her as he did from Fugaku). Though he was Fugaku's baby brother by more than a decade, Uncle Obito was actually the Konoha League Champion and pride of the family. He had held the position for almost 8 years now, since his mentor, Minato Uzuamki, gave up the crown. Ironically, he was also something of a goofball; while the rest of the Uchiha were dignified and refined, Obito was an exception. He was dressed in everyday clothes, including a cap, and had an adorable Pikachu on his shoulder he stubbornly refused to evolve.

If Obito looked like a goofball, Minato appeared to be the most unassuming person present. He had a kind face, an easy smile, and a gentle voice that he rarely ever raised, even when discipling his mischievous son. And all this did not change the fact that Minato was possibly the strongest trainer in the whole Konoha region, and was a contender for the title of strongest in the world; he had claimed the title of Konoha Champion at age 15, the youngest ever, and had held it, undefeated, until 8 years ago, when he unceremoniously gave it up and vanished from public sight. Even when he was champion, Minato was a shy, quiet man; to the rest of the world, he was Minato Namikaze, having kept his marriage and family secret from the public.

By contrast, Naruto's mother, Kushina Uzumaki, was a dynamic figure, both in the public eye and to her family. Loud and confident where her beloved husband was quiet and soft-spoken, Kushina hadn't always lived in Konoha. As a girl, she was practically a princess, the heiress of the royal Uzumaki family of the Ame Region. But strife and war had robbed her of her girlhood home, and she was spirited away to Konoha, where she had a normal life. '_Normal'_ being used in the loosest sense; Kushina may no longer be a princess, but she was never one to sit down and stay quiet. In her lifetime, she had gained fame as a skilled Pokémon Breeder, a powerful battler, and one of the top Coordinators in all of Konoha. And unlike her husband, Kushina enjoyed the spotlight (though she never brought it into her private life).

Uncle Yahiko was also from the Ame Region; he, like Minato (and Konan for that matter) had been found and adopted by old Jiraiya as a boy. Upon becoming an adult, Yahiko and Konan returned to their homeland and restored peace, overthrowing the tyrant that had conquered the region and rebuilt their Ame Pokémon League. Since then, Yahiko had been the Ame Champion, bringing order and prosperity back to the land, with Konan at his side, as both his wife and First Lady, but also as a member of the region's Elite Four.

Jiraiya, sitting peacefully, had no official title, unlike everyone else. Still, his great skill as a trainer had earned him acclaim in-and-out of Konoha, and he was known as a great sage and skilled teacher, of both Pokémon and other lore. He was also known as a shameless pervert and the author of a wildly popular adult book series, but that was beyond the point.

Both families were nothing short of outstanding and amazing. However, right now, they were just normal people, celebrating one of the most important days for their boys. Currently, Uncle Yahiko honored the occasion by regaling everyone with a story of one of his most grand adventures.

"The last thing I remember was the great leviathan's crimson tail crashing down on the ship," Uncle Yahiko said dramatically, slamming his fist down on the table for effect. "SMASH! One slap of its tail, and boom, the Dancing Kingdra was nothing more than shattered flotsam, and my crew was dragged down in the depths."

His audience had heard this story before, but that didn't mean they were not entranced; if anything, it was one of their favorites. Yahiko was master storyteller, and Naruto always begged him for a tale when he visited. Even Fugaku, who often regarded Yahiko's stories as fish tales, sat quietly with his his faithful Houndoom, Genji, beside him and listened respectfully. Only Konan didn't seem spellbound by her husband. If anything, she looked amused; then again, she was used to his wild tales (and had lived through a good number of them).

"Next thing I knew, I was sinking down into the depths of pitch-black water," Yahiko continued. "I couldn't see any of my shipmates, or even tell up from down, and my lungs were burning for air. Taking my chances, I chose a direction and started paddling harder than I ever did. Seems luck was on my side, 'cause eventually, I saw the flash of thunder from the stormy sky peeking through the waves, and I swam so hard when I broke to the surface, I must have flown five feet out. I took in the sweetest breaths of air I've ever breathed in my life, and headed for the biggest piece of my boat that was still floating; as fate would have it, it was the part that had the ship's name newly painted in bright yellow letters. Then, after crawling up on the flotsam and getting my footing, I grabbed a long, thin piece of wood, made it into a makeshift harpoon, and then, I waited, scanning the stormy waters for any sign of the monster from the depths."

Yahiko paused and took a sip of his drink, savoring the way his nephew squirmed in anticipation for him to continue. Finally, Naruto could take it no more.

"Well?!" he demanded, "What happened next?" He knew the story, of course, but he wanted to hear his uncle tell it.

Yahiko smiled wryly, looking past the boy to his mother, who had just walked over to them, carrying her cake. "Let's hold off that bit for a little; cake's ready, and it'd be disrespectful to your mom to make her wait any longer."

"You just want a slice of it while it's still fresh," Kushina teased, walking up to the table and setting the cake down. Behind her, Kushina's beloved silver furred Ninetales, Kitsune, followed faithfully. Kushina's most trusted companion and assistant, Kitsune was just as much a part of the Uzumaki household as anyone else, often serving as a babysitter and guardian to Naruto and his friends, and had fished him out of trouble more than a few times.

"Making any man wait for your cooking is a crime," Minato said, gently reaching up and stroking a lock of Kushina's hair as she set the cake on the table.

Naruto distinctly saw Uncle Yahiko roll his eyes and mutter something like "Brownnose" under his breath, but Aunt Konan elbowed him and glared. That shut him up.

"So, excited about starting your journey?" Minato asked, coming up from behind his son and ruffling his hair affectionately.

"You bet I am!" Naruto said, flashing a big smile. "I can't wait to start my Pokémon Journey! I've been waiting for this day forever!"

Minato chuckled. "I know you have, and you're gonna do great on it. However, how about we enjoy your mother's cake first? It'll be the last time you'll get to enjoy her cooking for a while."

"Whoo yeah!" the boy cheered.

Next to the excited blond, Sasuke rolled his eyes; quiet and emotionally reserved where Naruto was loud and boisterous, Sasuke had said little as he sat and listened to everyone else. In fact, the white Eevee on his lap had made more noise than him. Possessing a snow-white coat, Bayushi the Eevee had been a gift to Sasuke from Itachi when he was 10-years-old; since then, Bayushi had been Sasuke's faithful, if spoiled, pet and companion.

Kushina was passing Sasuke a slice of cake when Bayushi sprang up from his lap and tried to dig into it; however, Kushina knew the Eevee, and reacted in a flash, pulling the plate back and giving him a sharp tap on the head with it. "No!" she said sternly.

Sasuke tried reprehending him, but both Genji and Kitsune drowned him out, barking loudly in disapproval (Genji for shaming Sasuke with such behavior, and Kitsune for treating her mistress with such disrespect).

"…I could have handled it," Sasuke said, feeling like everyone was treating him like a child.

"If you could handle it, he wouldn't try to pull stuff like that," Fugaku said with a slightly disapproving tone to his voice.

"I warned you not to feed him from the table," Mikoto added.

"I know," Sasuke sighed, once again hating how everyone felt the need to treat him like a child.

Obito noticed, and felt that it was time for him to swoop in and be an uncle. "Ah, come on, Big Bro, it ain't a big deal. I feed Sparky from the table all the time!" He pointed to his Pikachu, who had politely accepted a small slice of cake from Kushina (she had baked it specifically to be eatable by people and Pokémon alike).

"The difference being Sparky can behave like a civilized 'mon and wait his turn," Fugaku pointed out.

Obito shrugged. "Eh, Bayushi's still learning. No big deal. He's still a kid, like Sasuke; they make mistakes."

Fugaku had something to say to that, but Mikoto tapped him under the table. "Don't forget that _**your**_ father didn't always approve of how you raised your Pokémon, Love."

Fugaku gave her a thoughtful look, and nodded.

Subtly, Obito smiled and gave his nephew a subtle wink.

Once he was behaving properly, Kushina gave Bayushi a small slice, along with the rest of the Pokémon who were kept outside their balls. After setting Genji's plate down in front of him, she stood up, looking at the last slice she had cut. "Hey, where's Kurama?"

Kitsune looked up, tails suddenly spreading out. Kurama was her pup, and she was especially protective of him.

"Oh, don't worry," Kushina said dismissively. "He's probably off pranking someone in the house."

"Not likely; there's no one else on the compound," Fugaku pointed out. "We gave the staff the day off so we could have privacy." As Kushina looked around to see if she could find her missing Pokémon, Fugaku turned to Yahiko. "So, how are things in Amegakure?"

This perked Naruto's interest; after all, his mother had been a princess in the Ame region. Though his heart would always belong to Konoha, he did feel a certain tie to his mother's homeland- it helped that his family had spent every summer vacationing there with Uncle Yahiko and Aunt Konan since before Naruto could remember.

Yahiko grunted. "Always gotta talk business, right?" He chuckled, but went on. "Things are pretty good, on the whole. We've finally found a Fourth member of our Elite Four and a suitable eight Gym Leader."

Fugaku nodded. "What a coincidence; the senior member of our Elite Four announced their retirement last winter, just as Itachi was sworn in. Now the League's scrambling to find a replacement; I suggested Might Guy, but he refused. Something about _'the springtime of his youth being meant for life in a Gym with his students'_ or some hogwash like that. The point is, it's been a nightmare; Itachi couldn't even make the time to see Sasuke off today."

Yahiko laughed. "Haha, what's the matter? Shortage of strong trainers?" He glanced over at Jiraiya. "Why don't you sign up for it, Pops? You've got enough frogs to pass as a half-competent Water-specialist."

Jiraiya, who had a mouthful of cake, choked at the suggestion. "Are you nuts?!" he finally asked, clearing his throat. "Can you imagine someone like me being responsible for anything? I'd kill myself first!"

"You'd have to get in line for that," Fugaku said darkly, recalling the one time he caught the old man 'accidently' peeping on his wife back when they were teens.

Yahiko laughed, directly the subject back to the original conversation. "Life's on the up and up in Ame, overall. The only real problem I've got is having no one strong enough to challenge me. I don't think there are any trainers in Ame that can give me a real fight! I'm afraid I'll lose my edge at this rate."

He glanced over at Minato, who nodded. "So that's why you've been visiting more often than usual. I figured it had to do with our tradition of always having a battle during visits."

"You're the only one who can give me a real fight, bro," Yahiko said, looking rather proud of himself. "You know what it's like, climbing all the way to the top, only to find out life was much more fun when people were stronger than you."

At this, Obito gave an exaggerated chuckle. "Boy, I do; it's not easy being the best." He winked at Sasuke, who grinned.

Yahiko scoffed. "Don't flatter yourself, kid; you've got a long way to go before you're on the same level as me and Minato. We're legends."

"And oh, so _**very**_ humble about it," Konan said drying, looking unamused by Yahiko's grandstanding.

"Don't underestimate me!" Obito said, drawing himself to his full height. "Just because you've been champion of your region longer than I've been of mine doesn't mean anything. Only the best become the Konoha Champion!"

"Minato was the best," Yahiko responded, gesturing to his brother, who shrank down meekly. "He retired because he's a shy wimp that can't stand the spotlight-" do remember that Yahiko is Minato's big brother, so he can say whatever he wants about him "-meaning you never had to beat him."

"I could've!" Obito responded defensively.

While the two regional champions argued back and forth like children, everyone else watched with a variety of emotions. Jiraiya and Fugaku realized Yahiko was probably trying to bait Obito into a fight, but Jiraiya found it amusing while Fugaku thought it was disgraceful behavior. Meanwhile, Konan had half a mind to grab her husband by the ear and scold him like the child he was acting like for being such a poor guest to the host family, while Mikoto wanted to do the same to Obito for provoking one of their guests, as she saw it. Kushina was just deeply amused and chanted "Fight! Fight! Fight!" in the background while Minato was getting ready to step in and break it up. As for Naruto and Sasuke, the two watched their uncle trade barbs back and forth, each one convinced theirs was the cooler one.

"I've beaten every challenger that's faced me," Obito said, poking a finger to Yahiko's chest. "Plenty of which fought Minato-sensei and gave him a run for his money. I beat them, fair and square, and I could do the same for Minato- no offense, Sensei!"

"None taken."

Obito turned back to Yahiko. "-and I could beat you, too!"

At this, Yahiko smirked, looking down at Obito's finger and casually pushing it aside. "Remember way back when you were 13 and had just started learning under Minato, and I came over to visit? You wanted to impress that girl- what was her name again-? Rin, right? Anyway, you thought it'd you'd look really cool mouthing off to me, the Ame Region Champion. And do you remember what happened?"

Obito chuckled nervously, suddenly not so confident.

Yahiko continued. "I grabbed you, bent you over my knee, and paddled your behind- literally. I spanked you. Right. In. Front. Of. Your. Crush- and yet, somehow, she still ended up marrying you." Yahiko laughed as Obito's face turned red. "Keep talking tough, and I might just do that again."

Naruto grinned, elbowing Sasuke, who glared back and looked over to his uncle.

"Yeah, well that was a long time ago! You couldn't do that to Uncle Obito now!" Sasuke said.

Obito nodded, trying to look fierce. Unfortunately, Sparky managed to do a better job of that.

Yahiko grinned and opened his mouth, but Fugaku interrupted him. "Enough. We're here to celebrate our boys, not watch you two have a dick-measuring contest."

Kushiha opened her mouth to say something about her husband winning that contest, but Mikoto, who knew exactly what she was thinking, clamped a hand over her mouth.

Sighing, Obito nodded. "Yeah, you're right, Big Bro. That really was something only an immature child would do." He shot a look at Yahiko.

"Takes one to know one," he responded smugly.

"You know," Minato interjected, "instead of trading barbs and embarrassing your nephews-"

"I'm not embarrassed," Naruto said.

"Kick his ass, Uncle Obito!" Sasuke added, causing Mikoto to smack the back of his head.

"-as I was saying," Minato went on, "instead of all this bluster, why not just arrange to have a real match sometime? That's what this is really about, right? Yahiko wants a real fight, and Obito wants to prove himself, so why not just settle this like men?"

"He doesn't mean right now," Fugaku added quickly as Yahiko reached for a ball from his belt. "For heaven's sake, you are at your nephew's sending-off party; have a little decorum. Why don't you two just talk to the Konoha League and set up a real match? It'd be a great opportunity to strengthen relations between our regions, and it'd be one of the best matches of the year."

"Hehe, sounds fun," Yahiko said.

Obito nodded, agreeing.

Naruto, however, looked disappointed. "Darn it, I wanted to see an epic battle."

"You'll get to, Pup," Yahiko said, winking. "We'll call you as soon as we have a date set, and you can watch it with the rest of the world. Hell, I'll send you tickets so you can sit in the front row and watch a legend in action."

"Yeah, and he'll get to see you fight, too," Obito added playfully.

Sasuke smirked.

Kushina spoke up. "Okay, enough of this serious talk. Besides, weren't you in the middle of a story?" She looked over at Yahiko.

"Oh right!" Yahiko cried, cheering up. He thought for a moment. "Now where was- ah right, I remember."

He cleared his throat, and then went back into storytelling mode, motioning and waving with his hands as he spoke. "So, there I stood, in the middle of the black waters, the clouds above me echoing with thunder as they blotted out the moon, and the rain on my back. I scanned the waters, just waiting for the great beast to rise up from the depths and try to finish what he started. I didn't have to wait long; soon, a glowing pair of eyes shone up from the watery depths, looking straight at me. I still remember those eyes, and the fear they filled me with; I remember how they rose up from the depths, getting bigger and bigger as the beast swam at me. Finally, it broke the surface, and in spray of water, I finally saw the whole monster I'd been hunting; the Great Red Death, the legendary Gyarados. The beast must have been two hundred feet long, its scales glistening blood red in the storm's flashing light."

His audience (save Konan) gave a collective gasp as Yahiko paused to let his story sink in. Smiling, he went on. "There I was, facing my almost certain death, with only a splinter of my ship as a weapon; the Red Death eyed me, not striking right away. Perhaps it was curious as to what a little human armed with a stick on a raft hoped to accomplish, or maybe it just was feeding on my dread. Either way, it was content to just loom over me while the storm raged and nearly tossed me from my raft. Finally, I could take it no longer; with a defiant scream, I hurled my harpoon at it, what little good that did. Now that got the monster's attention. Rearing back, the Red Death roared in rage, and lunged at me, its great jaws open wide. SNAP! With one bite, my world was darkness, and down the beast's throat I went."

"Whoa," Sasuke breathed, looking amazed. "It ate you?"

"Did you die!?" Naruto asked in horror.

"Sadly, yes," Yahiko admitted, looking down.

Naruto's jaw dropped while Sasuke rolled his eyes. They had both heard this story before, but this was the first time it took a turn like this!

"But, I lived!" Uncle Yahiko quickly added, giving a mad smile. "And I tell you, never in my life had I ever felt so alive (not including when Konan and I got hitched, of course) than when I was so close to death in that beastie's throat. Struggling with all my might, I clawed my way up his gullet until I reached that gross dangly-thing at the back of his throat. I grabbed hold of it, and gave it a jolly-good tug. I pulled and swung on that thing until the Red Death couldn't take it anymore, and finally spat me right out!"

"Cooool!" Naruto said, looking at Yahiko in awe. "What then?"

"Well," his Uncle mused, looking very smug, "I'm not sure if your parents would want me to give you all the gruesome and ultra-violent details, but I can tell you this: I may have lost a ship that night, but I didn't swim back to shore." He pulled out a Pokéball that was completely blood red and had waves carved all over it.

"You caught the Red Death!" Naruto gasped, pointing. "Can you show him to us?"

"Catch him I did," Yahiko nodded. "But, I'm going to have to pass on showing him off. Sorry, Little Buddy, but the Red Death is just too big to show off casually, even in a yard as big as our hosts'." He nodded to Mikoto, smiling lightly. "There's just no way I could call him off without catching the attention of everyone in the city, then we'd have paparazzi and cameramen swarming this place!"

"Drat," Naruto said, crossing his arms. "I've never gotten to see him, even when you've battled with Dad.

Sasuke scoffed. "That's probably because Yahiko's just telling a wild fish tale. I bet you he's just a normal Gyarados, _**if**_ he even has one."

Yahiko's eyes narrowed, but they were more playful than insulted. "Careful, boy. The Red Death is a proud beast, and he can hear you now, even from inside his Pokéball. I wouldn't want to provoke him if I were you."

Sasuke opened his mouth to once again say Yahiko was just making things up when a deep, powerful growl came from behind the two boys.

_** "GRRRRR!"**_

Taken by surprise, the two whipped around, only to look into the eyes of a red Gyarados, not 2 feet from them!

"IT'S THE RED DEATH!" Naruto shrieked, grabbing his father in shock.

Sasuke gasped and tried to scramble away, only to stumble over Bayushi. The Eevee shrieked like a little girl as he tried pulling himself out from under his trainer, and the Gyarados face let out a high, un-Gyarados sort of laugh.

"Zo-rururururu!" it giggled, its red scales dissipating in black and purple smoke. As the illusionary smoke cleared, the beast was gone, leaving only a small, black, foxlike Pokémon rolling on the ground with uncontrollable laughter.

"Kurama!" Naruto growled, jumping up. "It was you!"

"Zorua!" the Tricky Fox Pokémon said, wriggling his tail smugly.

"Got ya!" Kushina and Uncle Yahiko shouted in unison.

"Hahaha, you should have seen the look on your faces!" Naruto's mother said, walking over and patting Kurama on the head. "Oh, you did perfectly, little one. Your timing couldn't have been better."

"Zoooor," Kurama purred, giving Naruto a mocking smile.

"Oh, I'm gonna get you!" the boy shouted, lunging at the little fox. Kurama jumped away, only for his retreat to be cut off by an equally angry Sasuke and Bayushi. The three had him surrounded-!

"NINE!" Kitsune hissed as she jumped in-between the brawl and stood protectively above her pup, her breath flaring with red sparks. She pushed Kurama back and wrapped him up in her tails protectively.

"Hey, no fair!" Naruto cried, trying to move past the Ninetales, "only a coward would hide behind mommy, Kurama!"

"Ru-ru!" Kurama growled back, struggling to get free from his mother's tails.

Kushina decided it was a good idea to step in. "Okay, that's enough out of all of you," she demanded, clapping her hands. Nearby, Mikoto pulled Sasuke away by his shoulder. "Naruto, Sasuke, come on now, it was just a joke, there's no need to get violent; Kurama, the joke's over, so no more teasing. And Kitsune," she added, giving a wily smile and scratching the Ninetales ear, "thanks for not frying Naruto. Good girl."

Jiraiya moved over and ruffled his grandson's hair. "You know, you gotta admit, Naruto, that was funny."

Naruto frowned, but then shrugged. "Oh, okay, I admit, that was pretty good, Mom."

"Zor-zo-rua," Kurama laughed, swishing his backside at the boy.

"Ninetales," Kitsune sighed, grabbing her pup by the scruff of his neck. Ignoring his protests, she plopped her baby down in front of herself and started giving him a bath, muttering something about his fur being messy.

"Okay, okay, quiet down everyone," Minato called, holding up his hands. "Now it's time for the moment we've all be waiting for, especially you two." He gave his son a big, broad smile.

"We're gonna get our Starters!" Naruto said, practically giddy with anticipation.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at his friend's childishness, but smiled lightly.

Minato turned to Fugaku; as the son of the hosts, Sasuke should get to go first.

Nodding, Fugaku stood with his wife, looking at his son with a stoic yet proud expression. "A journey is the first step towards adulthood and independence, son. You are well prepared for your journey, and you will bring our family honor. There is nothing more to say." With that, he took out a highly polished Pokéball that had the family crest etched in it and handed it his son.

Hesitating for just a moment, Sasuke took it and called out his Starter Pokémon. "Togashi, come on out."

It was a Charmander, tall and healthy for its species. Togashi smiled and gave a small bow to both his trainer and Sasuke's parents.

"A Charmander, eh? I should have seen that coming," Kushina said.

"A traditional Starter Pokémon for members of our family," Fugaku pointed out. "Just like me, and my father, and his father, and his father before him, and-" he stopped, noticing Obito giving him a lopsided smile "-well, traditional for most of our family members."

Bayushi had hopped up onto the bench so he could look the tall Charmander in the eye; the two took a moment to sniff one another before Togashi nodded, as if to defer to the other Pokémon. That made Bayushi smile.

"And I couldn't help but notice that the boy's already calling him by name, even before letting him out of his ball," Jiraiya pointed out.

"Oh course; after all, they've met before," Fugaku said simply. "We took Sasuke to the family breeders last week so he could select his starter from all the Charmanders available."

"Tch, nepotism," Yahiko said teasingly.

As Fugaku and Yahiko traded a few playful barbs back and forth, Sasuke looked thoughtfully at his Pokémon- both Bayushi and Togashi. He had wanted to use Bayushi as his starter, of course. The Eevee was something of a brat, but he was _Sasuke's_ brat- his beloved pet. Sasuke's father, however, had said no to the idea. Bayushi was a house pet, and not suited for battles; he had been raised to be a companion, not a fighter.

Sighing, Sasuke knew his father was right. However, he didn't want to leave his Eevee at home- even if his mother said she'd take good care of him and he'd be back before he knew it.

Fugaku cleared his throat, catching Sasuke's attention. "Now, we all know that Sasuke already has a Pokémon; his pet Eevee." Fugaku spared Bayushi a nod, and went on. "Normally, a trainer leaves behind any pet Pokémon they have with their families; however, in this case, after talking the situation over with my wife and my brother, we decided, in this case, it'd be better for Sasuke to keep Bayushi with him."

Sasuke gasped in surprise, but did his best to contain his joy.

Naruto grinned at Sasuke teasingly. "Awe, how sweet; now you're not gonna get separated from your little baby- ouch!"

Bayushi bit Naruto's finger. Naruto reached for the little devil, only for Sasuke to get between them. Kushina grabbed her son by the shoulder, telling him to let it go.

"As I was saying," Fugaku went on, giving a light glare at Naruto before continuing, "Bayushi wasn't raised to be a battling Pokémon, but he's young enough to learn, and the experience should be gratifying for Sasuke. Besides, Mikoto and I have enough to do without having to take care of our son's pampered pet.

"Veeeee," Bayushi growled lightly, but stopped when Fugaku's Houndoom Genji silenced him with a glare. Genji was a large, powerful specimen, easily a head taller than most Houndoom, and Bayushi had quickly learned the beast had no patience for anyone disrespecting his master.

Sasuke bowed his head respectfully to his father. "Thank you, Father. I'm…I'm glad you trust me enough to raise Bayushi properly."

"Thank your uncle," Fugaku said, motioning to Obito. "He's the one that convinced me it was a good idea; he also took the liberty teaching the little fuzzball a new Technique when we took him in for a check-up two weeks ago."

Obito grinned bashfully, rubbing the back of his head. "Eh, I'm a sucker for the bond between a boy and his Pokémon." He smiled at Sparky.

Sasuke bowed to his uncle and thanked him the same way he had his father.

"What'd you teach the little punk?" Naruto asked, sticking his tongue out at Bayushi.

"Mimic. A tricky technique, but surprisingly useful," Obito explained. "It all depends on how clever the trainer is. A perfect way for a starting trainer to learn tactics and strategy. I'm sure you're smart enough to really make use of it, Sasuke."

Sasuke once again thanked his uncle, and then it was Naruto's turn.

Smiling, Naruto's parents pulled out a small orange box with a blue bow on it and handed it to him.

Giddy with excitement, Naruto opened the box and pulled out a shiny Pokéball; unlike a normal one, it had an orange top, with the Uzumaki spiral symbol carved onto the front.

"He's from all of us to you," Minato explained as his son picked up the ball with overflowing joy.

Naruto gingerly picked up the ball, looking awestruck at it. "C-Can I open it now?"

"Of course you can, baby," his mother chuckled. "Go on and say hello to your partner!"

"All right, come on out!" Naruto shouted, tossing the ball up high.

The Pokéball opened with a flash of light, and a small Pokémon appeared. He looked like a blue frog with a cape of foam bubbles. "Froakie?" he croaked, looking up at Naruto with big, yellow eyes.

"A Froakie! He's just what I wanted" Naruto squealed, giving his new Pokémon a hug.

"Yeah, it was kind of easy to guess, with you telling us over and over again," Minato, smiling lightly.

"His name is Kubo," Jiraiya said as Naruto threw his arms around his new Pokémon in a bearhug. "He was hatched on my reserve last spring." Jiraiya owned a mountain hideaway that he had turned into sanctuary for Pokémon, especially ones belonging to his family. Though the reserve specialized in caring for frog-like Pokémon (Jiraiya's preferred type), Naruto had seen many rare and unusual Pokémon there. "You can name him something else, if you want. I just called him that so he wouldn't get mixed up with all the other tadpoles."

"Nah, Kubo's perfect!" Naruto said, tightening his grip

"Kie!" Kubo gasped, pushing his owner away and glaring.

"Be careful or you'll frighten him," Aunt Konan warned. "And then you'll be sorry. He may look cute and small, but he's still a Pokémon, and a very strong one for his size."

Sparing a smile for Konan, the Froakie looked back at Naruto and took a martial stance, as if to say, _See how tough I am!?_ It was actually pretty adorable.

"Sorry," Naruto said bashfully, bowing in apology.

Kubo looked at Naruto questioningly for a moment, then nodded. "Froakie," he said, accepting Naruto's apology and holding out his fist.

The boy couldn't help but giggle with delight and gave his new friend a fist bump. "We'll be the best of friends!" Naruto declared.

Quick as a flash, Naruto whipped around and gave his parents a great, big, hug. "He's awesome! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you soooo much, Mom and Dad!"

"Froakie!" Kubo said, mimicking his trainer and joining the hug.

"Whoa there, boy. Remember, he's from all of us, not just your mother and I," his father reminded him.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Right; got ya!" He turned to the rest of his family and started giving out hugs and thanks.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya smiled smugly, looking over at Minato and Kushina. "See, I told you he was perfect for the boy," he whispered, winking at his daughter-in-law.

"Ah, I still think he and Kurama would have been a good choice," Kushina said, shrugging dramatically.

Next to her, Kitsune hissed hatefully at the very thought of it, pulling her precious baby tightly to her. Giving an outcry of protests, Kurama struggled free, and hopped on over to inspect this new addition to the family.

"Oh, you wanna say hi, Kurama?" Naruto asked, watching as the Tricky Fox Pokémon sniffed Kubo down.

The Froakie looked at the fellow Pokémon questioningly. "Froakie?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"Froakie?" the Zorua mimicked. He glowed for a moment, and then turned into an exact mirror image of Kubo.

"Fro!" the Water-type cried out, stumbling back. Kurama snickered, turning back into his own form.

"Nine, Ninetales," Kitsune sighed, warning her pup to play nice. She extended on of her tails, pushed Kubo back to his feet, and then rubbed him clean of any dust.

"Thank you all soooo much!" Naruto said again.

"Oh, we're not done quite yet," Kushina laughed. "There are still a few more things you need to be a real Pokémon Trainer." She pulled out an orange Pokédex and handed it to her son; likewise, Fugaku handed his son a standard red one.

"Why does everything he has have to be orange?" Fugaku asked, looking towards Kushina, who just shushed him.

Naruto smiled broadly as he looked at his dex. It was more than just a piece of trainer's equipment, after all; it was his trainer's license, undebatable proof that he was no longer just a child. Next to him, Sasuke eyed his own in wide-eyed wonder, turning it over in his hand.

"Why don't you kids try them out?" Jiraiya suggested.

Nodding, Naruto pointed his Pokédex at Kubo. With a ping, the device came to life. "Froakie, the Bubble Frog Pokemon. From its back and chest, Froakie produces a mane of bubbles called Frubbles, which is uses as both armor and weapons to protect itself. Beneath its happy-go-lucky disposition, Froakie keeps a watchful eye on its surroundings, and is rarely caught off-guard."

"Cool," Naruto said, smiling at his Pokémon. "Happy, yet watchful; you're the perfect Pokémon for me."

"Froakie," Kubo agreed smugly, crossing his arms and nodding.

Nearby, Bayushi scoffed and rolled his eyes.

Next were the Pokéballs; five for each boy. "I wanted to get you both an Ultra Ball, but Fugaku said that'd be spoiling you guys," Obito said, casting a dirty look at his brother.

"That's okay, Uncle," Sasuke said respectfully. "We're only starting trainers. This is more than enough."

"There is one last thing," Minato said, pulling out two boxes from under the table and handing one to each boy. "Part of the reason Fugaku forbade Obito from getting you two Ultra Balls is because we got you these."

Lifting the lid, Naruto found an orange device that he didn't recognize, while Sasuke had a blue one. They resembled a Pokédex and a phone slightly. Naruto looked to his parents to explain what it was.

Fugaku spoke up. "It's a Pokénav; the newest model. It's like a GPS map that can pinpoint a person's location. We can use it to keep track of you and you can use it to find your way."

"Wish I had one," Jiraiya muttered. "That would have saved me time and money."

"A Pokénav can also be used as a cell-phone," Fugaku continued, "but its major function is as computer. If you face a trainer in an official battle, the Pokénav will record their ID, along with any Pokémon they used; if they have a nav themselves, you can call them, too. It also can be used to record battles and the like"

"Whoa," the Naruto muse, looking at the device.

The two boys thanked their parents, and put the navs away after being shown how to use them.

At long last, it was time for the boys to start their long-awaited journeys.

"I'm going to miss you sooo much, Naruto," Kushina said, squeezing her son so hard he wasn't sure he could ever get away. "Call home on your Pokénav every day, understand? Remember, don't forget to take baths whenever you can, and be sure to eat right; not just ramen. I've packed everything you'll need, but be sure to double check every time you get into town to make sure you have plenty of supplies, okay? And change and clean your clothes every day, especially your underwear-"

"Mooom!" Naruto shouted, pulling out of her death grip a little. "You're embarrassing me! I'm not a baby anymore!"

"Oh, I know," she said, smiling and letting him go. "It's just that you'll always be my little boy." She gave him one last kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks, Mom," Naruto sighed, exasperated but smiling.

Nearby, Mikoto gave her son a similar goodbye, though without fussing to remind him about a half-dozen things. Amusingly, this was followed by Uncle Obito throwing his arms around the boy and sobbing. Sparky stood nearby, looking at his trainer's display with equal parts embarrassment and disgust.

"Aren't you glad I'm a much cooler uncle than that?" Yahiko asked, holding out his hand to Naruto for a firm handshake.

Naruto smiled, taking the shake. "Yeah, you're way-"

"Ah, who am I kidding? Come here, you little punk!" Without warning, Yahiko pulled him forward in a death grip bearhug and gave him a noogie on the head. Satisfied, Yahiko flung the boy over to Konan. "Now give your aunty a hug goodbye."

Shocked and somewhat disoriented, Naruto staggered into his aunt's arms and did his best to hug her without falling over. Thankfully, she was much more merciful than his uncle.

"Good luck, sport," Jiraiya said, ruffling up his hair affectionately.

With that, only the boys' fathers were left.

Stoic and firm, Fugaku gave Sasuke a firm handshake and a respectful nod. "You will do well," he said simply. The way Fugaku said it, he sounded like he was stating fact, not wishing his son well; Sasuke found it oddly reassuring, and gave his father a nod and a slight smile.

Minato, meanwhile, looked at his boy with his signature gentle-goofy smile. "I can't say much anything you haven't already heard, so I'll just say them again: good luck, stay strong, and don't worry. You're going to do great, and we're already proud of you." He reached into his coat. "Ah, and one last thing." Minato pulled out a red and white hat with a symbol of a stylized Pokéball over a leaf, the Konoha League symbol. "I believe in you, boy," he said, pushing the hat on his son's head and rubbing it affectionately. "Now go have an adventure!"

Adjusting his new hat, Naruto flashed one last smile at his family. "Believe it!"


	2. Chapter 2: Leaving the Nest!

**Disclaimer**

Let me just start out with the standard Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Pokémon, or any of the associated or mentioned franchises/companies, and I am not making a profit on this.

-0-0-0-0-

**Review Response**

Rider126: Thank you for your positive input. And so you and everyone else knows, I do plan on Naruto having a Riolu, though this time, I thought it'd be better for Naruto to catch him later. I want to work on how I'm going to portray him, so that he stands out this time. One of the problems with my original story was that Kata, Naruto's Stater, was pretty bland and uninteresting compared to the rest of his team. I hope that this time, it won't be the case.

theIrishWriter: Thank you for your review. I think changing the intro so that Naruto and Sasuke start together really did set the tone differently. In the original, they were supposed to be good friends, but lived in separate cities, raising some odd questions. This way, it feels like a more natural situation. As for bloodlines and other gifts, I will mention a few of them, but I hope not to drag it on hopelessly like last time. In the original story, I was planning on Hinata being normal, then decided she should have some sort of gift like her family, so I decided to make her psychic, only I dragged it out over 20+ chapters, ruining everything. When she does appear, I plan on making things much clearer for Hinata. And for everyone else, for that matter. As I said earlier, Naruto's Riolu will be making a re-appearance. You are correct, Kata was Naruto's Starter in the original…and as you just proved, he was sadly so bland that people forgot about him in favor of his more colorful crew, like Puck and Jet.

Shadowwolf1997: Bless you for sticking with me for so long (and capitalize God in the future). I hope to produce chapters at a quicker pace with a focused story.

_Guests_: Thank you all for your loyalty; I am going to do some changes on each characters' teams. Sadly, I am not sure Puck will be returning. He was a colorful character…but a bit too much, at times, and he took large amounts of screen time away from Naruto's other Pokémon. This time, I am planning on trying to give each teammate a more balanced personality and impact. I'm sorry if this disappoints anyone, and hope you find the story enjoyable anyway.

-0o0o0-

**The Hero's Pokémon & Accomplishments:**

**Naruto Uzumaki**:

_Team Members_: Kubo (Froakie, male, Starter)

_Badges & Awards_: None

**Sasuke Uchiha**:

_Team Members_: Bayushi (Eevee, male, Shiny), Togashi (Charmander, male, Starter)

_Badges & Awards_: None

-0o0o0-

Pokémon: Konoha Region

Chapter 2  


Leaving the Nest!

The beeping of her alarm awoke Sakura Haruno, who hastily shut it off and jumped out of bed. She could scarcely contain herself- it was the first day of the spring following her twelfth birthday. Today, she would be starting her Pokémon Journey! Grabbing the clothes she had set out the night before, Sakura made her way to the bathroom and did her morning routine. Once she was dressed, the girl started combing her long hair as she looked herself over; she had chosen a red and white outfit that was well suited for life outdoors while still being very cute. Giggling, Sakura put her hair back with a headband and did a last once-over in the mirror before heading off downstairs to the kitchen.

As she expected, her parents, Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno, were not up yet; after all Sakura had set her alarm to wake her an hour earlier than what was normal for the household. Grabbing a yogurt with granola chunks mixed in for her breakfast, Sakura went over the list she made of everything she needed for her journey.

Sakura was the student Tsunade Kato, a famed Pokémon Professor, medical expert, and former member of the Konoha Elite Four (specializing in Dragon-types). Having been Tsunade's apprentice since she was ten, Sakura had proven herself an adept student and learner, and Tsunade had told her she was more than ready for her journey.

"Morning, Princess!" called a jolly voice from the stairs. Sakura's father Kizashi entered the kitchen wearing his bathrobe and slippers. After grabbing a bowl of kid's cereal, Kizashi set himself down next to his daughter, smiling. "Sooooo," he said, drawing the word out, "you excited?"

Sakura nodded, smiling gently.

Kizashi looked at the list his daughter made. "You sure are prepared; I wasn't nearly this organized at your age...not that I'm any better now, haha!"

"I know Dad, you've told me a thousand times now," Sakura groaned.

"And I'll tell you a thousand more times, Sweetheart. It's part of being a dad," Kizashi laughed. He reached over and gave his daughter a big kiss.

"Dad! Come on, I'm too old for you to be treating me like a kid!"

Kizashi suddenly drew back like he'd been slapped across the face. "Blasphemy!" he hissed, dramatically bring his hand over his heart. "Never say such a horrible thing again! Bleh, how many times do I have to tell you stop growing up, eh?"

"At least a thousand times more, Daddy," Sakura said affectionately. Sure, her father could be silly, foolish even, but she loved him all the same.

"But seriously Sakura, I know you're really excited about your journey, and you should be, but I do have one rule for you," her father said, looking at her pleadingly. "More like a request, but please, listen to me."

That got Sakura's attention; normally, it was her mother who laid down the law in the house. If her father wanted to tell Sakura something, it must have been important. Nodding, she leaned in close, giving him her full attention.

Gulping, Kizashi considered his words carefully before continuing. "...no boys, okay?"

Sakura blinked. "...what?"

"I mean it!" Kizashi said urgently. "Your old man's having enough trouble accepting his little girl ain't so little anymore! The idea of you coming back home with a boyfriend, or even worse, a husband, is too much for me, Sweetheart!" He spat the word 'husband' like it was poison.

"Oh Daddy, come on!" Sakura laughed, "I'm only 12! Do you really think I'm going to be married and have kids the next time you see me?"

"Yes!" Kizashi looked his child over and winked. "Cute as you are, I'm surprised all the boys haven't started fighting over your hand already! Clearly, I've done a good job of scaring them off!"

"Don't flatter yourself, Kizashi; Sakura's a late bloomer. She's been in everything else, so why would romance be any different?"

Sakura glowered at her mother Mebuki as she entered the kitchen. Did she really need to mention that late bloomer stuff?! Mebuki, like her daughter, was already fully dressed and ready.

"Great, the Warden's awake," Kizashi grunted.

"I heard that," Mebuki said, setting up her own breakfast. "And why on earth are you eating kid's cereal, Kizashi? I bought that brand for Sakura! That's nothing but sugar! You're supposed to be on a diet. Doctor's orders!"

"Don't look at me," Sakura added, "I don't even like that stuff."

"I do," Kizashi smiled, taking an extra big bite and looking rather smug.

"Go get dressed already," Mebuki sighed. "Sakura's supposed to be there soon, and I don't want to be late. Oh, that reminds me" she said, turning back to Sakura. "Speaking of late bloomers, did you remember to pack any pads? Now, I know you haven't started 'the change' yet, but you're bound to do it sooner or later, so it's better to be prepared-"

Sakura tried shouting, but even her embarrassed voice was drowned out by her father.

"Stop! Stop! STOP RIGHT THERE!" he screamed, clamping his hands over his ears.

"What's the big deal?" his wife asked, "all I did was ask Sakura if she packed any pads-?"

"Stop saying words!" Kizashi cried, flinging his arms wildly. "At least let me leave the room before you start talking about...about...about that!"

"Oh, you can't be serious," Mebuki sighed. "Come on, periods are a perfectly natural part of every girl's life...eventually."

"I know it is," Kizashi hissed, "but you don't have to tell me about it! It's like UFOs! I know they exist, but I like to pretend they don't! Is that too much to ask?! At least let me leave the room!" He got up and fled the room while screaming and plugging his ears.

"Well, that was embarrassing," Mebuki said. She looked at Sakura. "So, anyway, were you sure to pack your pads? I know you're a late bloomer, but you'll get there!" She gave her daughter what she thought was a reassuring rub on the shoulder.

Sighing, Sakura slammed her head into the table; couldn't she just skip to the part where she started her journey already?

**-0o0o0-**

At long last, they arrived at Prof. Tsunade's lab. Much to Sakura's chagrin, they were walking up to the door at the same time as was Ino Yamanaka and her doting father, Inochi. The two girls set eyes upon one another and glowered.

At one point in the past, Ino and Sakura had been the best of friends. However, their friendship had soured and turned bitter for two reasons. One, from Ino's jealousy that Sakura had become Tsunade's apprentice. Secondly, both girls found out they liked the same boy about a year ago. Sakura and Ino both had their eyes and hearts on Sasuke Uchiha, the coolest and most popular boy in their school. He came from the well-to-do Uchiha family, and though he was very handsome and popular, Sasuke was also withdrawn and aloof. Inexplicably, his only friend seemed to be the class clown, Naruto Uzumaki, something Sakura couldn't understand. Naruto's family was very private, and as far as Sakura could tell, unimportant. Plus, he and Sasuke seemed to spend most of their time butting heads. Why the two of them were so close, Sakura didn't know; then again, when Sakura and Ino were BFFs, they often playfully teased each other, so maybe it wasn't so strange.

Presently, however, both girls would have liked other more than for a truck to have hit the other one. Racing one another for the door while still trying to maintain a ladylike walk, Sakura and Ino burst into the lab, their parents following behind them.

"Oh my!" Gasping, the woman waiting at the front for them dropped her clipboard in surprise. It was Shizune, Prof. Tsunade's niece-by-marriage and personal assistant. "Hello, girls," she said dryly. She was well aware of Sakura's rivalry with Ino (Sakura had vented her frustrations to Tsunade and Shizune many times in the past), but she was far from amused by it.

"Sorry, Shizune," Sakura said meekly, bending down to pick up Shizune's clipboard. Ino had done the same, but Sakura was quicker and snatched it up, handing it to the woman.

Ino's and Sakura's parents greeted Shizune respectfully. "So, I guess the girls will be picking out their Pokémon, right?" Inochi asked.

"Actually, if you could, would you please wait in the lounge?" Shizune asked, "Prof. Tsunade has to talk something over with Sakura in her office."

That was news to Sakura, and her mind started to go through the possibilities of what it could mean.

"That's okay; I've got a surprise I need to give my little princess, anyway" Inochi said, holding up a package in rich purple paper he had been carrying.

Sakura and Ino both rolled their eyes. Inochi was a doting father who looked for any excuse to shower his daughter with gifts.

Sakura and Shizune made their way to Tsunade's office; the professor was sitting down, a lavender Pokémon egg with green spots in a glass carrying case on her desk. Sakura was immediately intrigued; she had never seen the egg before.

Tsunade was typing something up on her computer, so Sakura sat down and waited, eyeing the egg and another object on Tsunade's desk: an old, cherished photo of eight people. Tsunade was in it, along with her late husband, Dan Kato; he was a beautiful man with white hair and gentle eyes, and Sakura couldn't help but admire Tsunade's taste just looking at him. Between the two of them was Shizune, barely a toddler when the picture had been taken. The picture had taken been over twenty years ago, just after Dan had become Pokémon Champion and Tsunade joined the Elite Four. And it was one of the last pictures the family took together- a tragic car accident took Dan's life a year later. Sakura didn't know much of the details of Tsunade's life- she was private woman who didn't like dwelling on the past -but she knew the loss still hurt her to this day.

The other figures in the picture were complete mysteries to Sakura. One was a very tall man with bushy white hair. Surrounding him was four children. Three of them looked to be around the same age (maybe ten at the oldest); two boys, one with lank red hair covering his eyes and the other with spiky orange hair and blue eyes, and a girl with blue hair and grey eyes, an origami flower in her hair. A younger boy with blond hair and blue eyes was hiding behind Jiraiya, looking shy. Tsunade had mentioned that the man, Jiraiya, was an old friend of hers. After Dan's death, Jiraiya had been there to help her through her depression, and she had been something of a maternal figure for Jiraiya's kids.

Sakura frowned, thinking about the situation. She had never met any of them, but they were apparently very important to her teacher. Of course, she had only known Tsunade for two years, so though they had become close, Sakura had much to learn about the woman she who had taken her underwing. Sakura's gaze drifted to another photo, on the back of the wall, featuring an older Tsunade proudly holding a blond baby boy with whisker marks on his face.

Sakura still couldn't believe that Tsunade and Naruto were related (even if it was only unofficially). Naruto's father was one of Jiraiya's sons, making him Tsunade's honorary grandson. Sakura had been shocked when she first found out, but it didn't really change anything about their relationship at school. Naruto was still the same immature prankster with an oddly private family life. They weren't really friends, though Naruto did playfully flirt with her on occasion, though Sakura could tell he was only teasing.

A thought occurred to Sakura. "Sensei, are you going to be giving Naruto his starting Pokémon, too? And Sasuke?" Sakura hadn't thought about it, but today was the day most kids in her class would be starting their Pokémon journey. It was very possible, even likely, that Tsunade would be giving starter Pokémon to more than just Sakura and Ino.

Tsunade looked up from her computer. "No, that's Prof. Sarutobi's job, mostly. I only handle a handful of new trainers to make it easier for him. And Naruto and Sasuke's families are sending the two off in a private ceremony." She cleared her throat and unplugged a pink Pokénav from her computer. "Anyway, I called you in here because I have something for you." Tsunade pushed the glass case containing the lavender egg to Sakura. "Care to take a guess what sort of Pokémon's inside?"

Sakura held her breath as she gently picked the egg case up. "Uh, from the colors and markings, I'd have to guess it's a Goomy egg, Sensei."

"Smart girl," Tsunade said with a nod. "This one's actually one of Katsuyu's eggs." Katsuyu was Tsunade's personal Goodra. "I've decided you'll be caring for it."

Sakura gasped. "Are…are you sure about that?" Even as she spoke, Sakura hugged the egg to her chest.

"Of course. You've handled plenty of the baby Pokémon in the lab before; caring for one 24/7 without my supervision will be a wonderful learning experience for you. Besides, you're my student," Tsunade said simply. "I don't need an excuse to do something nice for you."

Sakura smiled bashfully. "Thank you, Sensei."

"On that note, I have a second gift for you," Tsunade went on, handing Sakura the Pokénav that had been connected to her computer. "This nav has special upgrades that will all you to scan Pokémon and people alike and have a basic diagnostic of their medical state. It can identify common illnesses and poisons, suggest treatments to alleviate symptoms, and has an extensive database of medical information, for both people and Pokémon."

"Whoa," Sakura said, looking at the device.

"You can use it to keep track of your egg's status, and send me updates," Tsunade explained. "I'll be expecting weekly reports from you, in fact."

Sakura nodded. "Of course! A Pokémon Journey is not a vacation! A doctor's duty is never done!"

**-0o0o0-**

Sakura, Tsunade, and Shizune walked into the lounge, Sakura holding the case with her new egg and eager to show it off. Instead, she was greeted with the sight of Ino holding an identical case, in which was a green egg with a pattern resembling a bud.

The two girls stared at each other silently.

"Ooooh, what do you got there, Princess?" Sakura's father asked in a somewhat teasing tone.

"A Goomy egg," Tsunade explained proudly. She then noticed Kizashi's confused expression and explained what a Goomy was (the Goodra-line was not native to Konoha, and was a very rare Pokémon).

"I do hope you thanked your teacher for her generosity," Mebuki said to her daughter.

"Of course I did!" Sakura snapped angrily. Did her mother have to treat her like a child, especially in front of everyone!?

"Don't snap, I was just checking," Mebuki said, hands on her hips.

Inochi stepped in. "Well, would you like that at: Tsunade and I both had the same idea! Haha, I bred that egg for my little princess, and she did the same for you, Sakura! Fate favors friends, as my father used to say!" He smiled and patted Sakura warmly on the back.

Sakura gave him a polite smile as best she could. For some reason, it seemed that both Sakura and Ino's fathers labored under the delusion that the two girls were still the best of friends, regardless of what they told them.

**-0o0o0-**

Tsunade led everyone to another room centered around a table stylized to resemble the Konoha League symbol.

"As everyone here should know, traditionally, Starter Pokémon are part of the Grass-Fire-Water triangle, with each type having advantage over one and disadvantage over the other. Most of the time, starting trainers in Konoha get to choose between Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. However, I've been provided with a more exotic selection." She pressed a button, and three Pokéballs, evenly spaced around the edge of the table, rose out of it, one by one, as she listed each off. "You can choose between Treecko, the Wood Gecko Pokémon, Tepig, the Fire Pig Pokémon, or Squirtle, the Tiny Turtle Pokémon. Each of them has their own unique strengths and weaknesses. Treecko, for example-"

Sakura's hand shot up, and she spoke before Tsunade finished. "Sensei, where's Ochako?"

Tsunade shrugged. "Well, considering that Ochako used to belong to someone else, I didn't think you'd want a second-hand Pokémon-"

"Of course I want her!" Sakura shouted hotly. Her mother was reprehending her for her rudeness, but Sakura ignored her. "I rescued her, and nurtured her back to health; I'm not going to abandon her! We talked about this, and you agreed to let me have her as my Starter!"

"Are you sure you don't want to at least have a look at the new ones first?" Tsunade asked, a wicked smile on her face.

Shizune spoke up. "Tsunade's just playing with you, Sakura." Shizune turned to her teacher and aunt. "Tsunade, she's going to have a conniption if you don't stop teasing her."

Sakura nodded angrily, cheeks puffed out, and Tsunade laughed. "Alright, come on." She turned to her assistant. "Shizune, can you handle Ino's selection for me?"

Shizune nodded, and Tsunade led Sakura to the lab's sanctuary wing, a section designed for Pokémon to be able to live in comfortably while they recovered from injuries. It had a glass ceiling and was set up like to simulate the natural environment, with plants, trees, and even small ponds for Water-types. It also had squishy pillows and clean worktables where Tsunade and her staff could do examinations on Pokémon patients.

As soon as Sakura and Tsunade entered the room, they were greeted by the area's occupants: an Exeggutor that had suffered a partially nasty case of burns, a Graveler who had cracked his rock-like skin, and a Lanturn with a broken antenna. And of course, the Pokémon they were looking for, Ochako, a small Chikorita that gleefully ran right up to Sakura and jumped into her arms as soon as she saw her.

"Chi-chika," she cooed, looking up at the girl and waving her leaf in Sakura's face, releasing the scent of green tea and mint, a display of affection for Chikorita.

Three months ago, Sakura had discovered the Chikorita while doing some field research with Tsunade. The little Chikorita was starving and of ill health. Worse, she was utterly consumed by grief, clutching an old broken Pokéball like her life depended on it and wanting to do nothing but cry her heart out. The poor Pokémon had been abandoned; Sakura couldn't figure out exactly what happened to her, but the tragic event had left the Chikorita so broken up inside that she almost lost the will to live. After rescuing her and brining her back to Tsunade's lab, Sakura cared for her diligently, trying to console her. The process proved difficult, at first. Though she appreciated Sakura's kindness, the little Chikorita only wanted to be back with her trainer, and ran off soon after regaining her strength. Tsunade had told Sakura that they had done all they could, and that Chikorita would have to learn to move on by herself. Instead of listening to her mentor, Sakura went off in search of her; she found the Chikorita, being tormented by a flock of Murkrow trying to steal her old Pokéball. Without thinking, Sakura ran in and tried scaring the birds off, and when that failed, scooped Chikorita and her Pokéball up and ran off; they escaped, but not before the Murkrow tried clawing every bit of Sakura they could reach.

After that, Sakura and Chikorita's relationship changed; the sensitive little Pokémon never tried running off again. Instead, she followed Sakura around, helping her with her chores around the lab. The Chikorita even managed to tell Sakura her name, by patiently sounding it out (O-Chi-ka) and going through a list of names together: Ochako. It might have been the name her previous trainer gave to her, but it meant something else to Sakura and Ochako. The effort the two of them went through finding her name had been a bonding experience; it showed how much Sakura valued Ochako's feelings, and how Ochako wanted to share something with Sakura.

"Hey Ochako, ready to start our journey?" Sakura said warmly, giving her Chikorita a hug.

"Chikorita!" Ochako cheered.

"I see you've already discussed this with her," Tsunade noted, handing Sakura the Heal Ball Sakura had caught the Chikorita in. "Well, let's go-"

"Chi," Ochako suddenly said, jumping out of Sakura's arms and running over to the cushion where she slept. She slipped her leaf underneath it and pulled out an old, broken Pokéball, and then ran over to Sakura, holding it up to her new trainer with a smile. "Chika!"

"Your old Pokéball," Sakura said softly, taking the ball and holding it in her palm. Ochako had cleaned and polished it as best she could. Sakura looked down at the Chikorita. "You really are the sweetest girl, you know that?"

"Chii," she responded bashfully, looking down and blushing.

Sakura put the old ball in her bag and picked Ochako up, not bothering to recall her, and followed Tsunade back to the other room. Ino had selected her Starter Pokémon, and was holding her brand new Tepig in her arms in the exact same position that Sakura was holding her Chikorita. Once again, an uneasy silence hung in the air between the two girls.

"Oh, matching friends in matching poses with matching eggs!" Inochi said in a doting voice. "Ha, even their outfits kind of match!"

Both girls became consciously aware of what they were wearing; they weren't matching, but now Sakura and Ino couldn't help but notice that they clearly had the same sense of style. The two girls groaned, glaring at one another.

Kizashi jumped forward, pulling out his camera. "Wait, this is too perfect, I've gotta get some pictures! Scooch together, girls!"

Putting on forced smiles, Ino and Sakura moved next to one another. "I'm only putting up with this because your father's a nice person…unlike you," Ino said under her breath.

"Likewise, you wretched piglet," Sakura responded.

Kizashi took a picture of the two girls…then the girls and Tsunade…then one of them with Tsunade and Shizune. Then pictures of their Pokémon only, then their Pokémon and eggs. Then the girls and their eggs…then the girls and their parents. One of Inochi and Ino. Another of Kizashi and Sakura (which Inochi took), then another of just the girls…

"Drat," Kizashi said, looking at his camera, "The battery just died."

"Thank heaven for small miracles," Sakura whispered.

At long last, Tsunade was able to give both girls their Pokédexes and Pokéballs, and everyone made their way outsid and started saying their goodbyes.

"You take good care of Katsuyu's egg, Sakura," Tsunade said firmly, but then smiled, adding, "And don't you worry about a thing. You're going to do great!"

"Thank you, Sensei," Sakura said, giving her teacher a hug.

And remember," Mebuki added, "if you find you don't much care for being on a Pokémon Journey, there's nothing wrong with coming home early. After all, that's what your father and I ended up doing. You have a future as a Pokémon Doctor, after all."

"You always know how to say the most encouraging things, Honey," Kizashi said sarcastically. He gave his daughter a hug, saying, "You have fun, Princess. Just remember that Daddy believes in you!" He unsuccessfully choked back a sob. "My baby's all grown up…I promised myself I wouldn't cry, but here come the floodgates!" Kizashi began crying openly.

As Ino took the time to say goodbye to Sakura's parents as well, Inochi turned to Sakura. "You know, I'd be more comfortable if you and Ino traveled together, and I'm sure your father feels the same way; there's safety in numbers, after all."

Sakura smiled. "Isn't a Pokémon Journey all about learning independence, Mr. Yamanaka? Besides, Ino and I won't be alone- we have our Pokémon to keep us safe!"

"I know, but at least ride your bikes together until you're out of sight? Then you can go your separate ways, if you want?" He gave her a pleading look.

Sighing, Sakura nodded. "If that's okay with Ino, I guess."

The girls mounted their bikes, which were matching designs, though Sakura's was pink and Ino's purple, as they had gotten them together when they were still friends. Giving one last wave to their families, Ino and Sakura set off together; both of them had their Starter riding in their bike basket in the front, and their egg strapped in safely in a carrying seat in the back.

Ino and Sakura rode next to each other for nearly two hours; it was pleasant enough, though they didn't talk to one another, and both of them were just following the same road. Finally, the two came to a fork in the road. The straight path dipped through River Scar Valley, a rugged valley that lead into a forested area fed by the river; a popular site for trainers to trek through, though it would also take three days to travel the length of the valley on foot (two by bicycle). The branching road lead to much smoother grasslands, though because it went around the valley, it was a longer route, with less chance of encountering wild Pokémon. "I'm heading this way," Ino said, starting on the grasslands route. "Don't you dare think of following me, Sakura!"

"I was planning on going through River Scar Valley anyway; everyone knows there's a variety of useful Pokémon this way," Sakura said definitely. In her basket, Ochako looked saddened to see her trainer speaking so harshly, and Ino's Tepig had a matching face.

Ino paused, looking back to Sakura. "By the way, Billboard Brow, one last thing: there's going to be a Pokémon Coordination Contest in Teakgrove Town in three weeks, and I know you'll be there. All Starting trainers try to earn their first badges there! I challenge you to try and beat me there!"

Sakura scoffed. She had very little interest in Pokémon Coordination; battling was more exciting, after all. Still, she found herself nodding solemnly at her rival. "I'll be there- and I'll win!"

Ino went of one way laughing, and Sakura rode her bike the other, glowering.

"Chi," Ochako said softly, reaching up and brushing her trainer's face with her leaf.

Sakura looked down at her and smiled softly. "Yeah. I shouldn't let her upset me."

The two traveled at a leisurely pace for the rest of the day; with the terrain getting rocker and rougher as they rode deeper into the valley, Sakura had to go slower or risk crashing her bike. They stopped for lunch, and then had a mock battle with a wild Rattata. However, Sakura encountered no Pokémon that caught her eyes. Still, it was only her first day as a trainer, so she reminded herself not to get overanxious- after all, many beginning trainers make the mistake of catching one of every Pokémon they encounter, and run out of Pokéballs on the first day. Pretty soon it was dark, and Sakura and Ochako set up camp and went to bed. Before going to sleep, Sakura was sure to tend to her egg, and played a game of Go Fish with Ochako (it had been something she had taught the Chikorita to do while nursing her back to health).

Sakura woke up bright and early on the second day of her journey, and enjoyed a nice warm breakfast with Ochako (Sakura preferred to make her own Pokémon food rather than use store-bought). She then scanned her egg with her Pokénav, made note of its condition, and set off on her bike, with Ochako in her basket.

They spent the next two hours riding along merrily, occasionally fighting off a Rattata or Pidgey, when Sakura came across a large yellow warning sign, which read:

**DANGER**

**ATTENTION TO ALL STARTING TRAINERS**

Skidding to a halt, Sakura rode up to the sign and read the explanation underneath the large print.

_Due to unexpected changes in migratory patterns due to weather and destruction of habitat, prides of Luxray have settled in River Scar Valley; this invasive species is considered extremely dangerous, especially to young trainers. Luxray and their line are not natural predators to the valley, and are much more aggressive as a result. Beginning trainers are advised to either go around the valley, or barring that, stay on the path; the Luxray prides have settled deep in the forest. It is also advised that those traveling through the valley stay in the public cabins along the path at night; the Luxray line are nocturnal predators, and can see in the dark. Cabin locations are indicated on the map._

Reading through the list, Sakura groaned; she had already been traveling through the valley for a day; if she turned back, it would take another day, and then she'd have to take the longer route around River Scar Valley. And considering she had been encountering nothing but Pidgey and Rattata so far, it was unlikely the trip back would yield more interesting results. Sakura weighed her options; if it was really dangerous, she reasoned, they would have just closed the River Scar route altogether. As long as she stayed on the path and in the cabins at night, Sakura was sure she could stay safe. Sighing, she looked over at Ochako. "Well girl, what do you think? Do we go back, or keep moving forward?"

The Chikorita looked nervous but thoughtful. After a moment's consideration, she pointed her leaf forward. "Chi-ka!"

"I agree," Sakura said. "Onward!" The two continued down the road, which was starting to show trees and shrubbery alongside it. Sakura estimated that the valley's forest was not too far off.

As they reached the edge of the forest, Sakura noticed something moving alongside large rocky outcropping. It looked to be a robotic arm with a ball-and-socket joint floating a few feet above the ground; after a moment, Sakura realized it was Pokémon. One she had never seen before.

"What on earth is that?" Sakura said, pulling out her Pokédex.

"Beldum, the Iron Ball Pokémon," it chimed in a feminine voice. "Beldum's unusual physiology uses a circulatory system of magnetism instead of blood. These same magnetic forces also repel Earth's natural magnetism, allowing it to float. Likewise, Beldum communicate with its own kind through magnetic pulses; when they swarm, they move in perfect synchronization with one another. Beldum are scarce in the wild."

Sakura tucked the 'dex away, looking at the Beldum. "What a strange Pokémon." She watched it, somewhat captivated; she had never seen an inorganic Pokémon face-to-face before. Tsunade had never gotten around to teaching her about them, instead prioritizing caring for Pokémon with regular physiologies.

For some reason, the Beldum was slamming and dragging its claw along the rock outcropping, occasionally letting out an angry groan. However, Sakura couldn't tell what it was doing.

"Let's catch it!" Sakura said, smiling at Ochako. "I've never seen anything like it, and this'll be a great chance to learn about its species!"

"Chikorita," Ochako chirped, jumping out of the bicycle basket and over to the Beldum. "Chi!"

The Iron Ball Pokémon turned, noticing Sakura and her Pokémon for the first time. "Bllllm," it said in an angry drone, glaring at Ochako with its one eye. Without further warning, the Beldum rushed her, scoring a solid Take Down.

"Roll left!" Sakura ordered, and Ochako obeyed just in time to avoid a second blow, and had to jump away to avoid a third attack. The Beldum attacked with abandon, ramming after Ochako repeatedly in blind rage. Sakura was shocked by its aggression. It was striking so blindly that not only was Ochako able to dodge most of its attacks, but the Beldum was clearly hurting itself.

Sakura ordered Ochako to use a Razor Leaf, but the attack seemed to only bounce off the Beldum's metal hide; it responded with a Take Down attack that knocked her to the side as the Beldum charged onward, hitting the rocky outcropping it had been rubbing against earlier. The Beldum hit a cleft in the rock with a crash, and then it was stuck.

"Dmmm! Blll!" the Pokémon growled, struggling to try and free itself. However, being only a ball and an arm, there was little it could do with its face and part of its body wedged between the rock as it was.

Sakura went to Ochako's side, helping her up. "Well, would you look at that," Sakura said, watching as the Beldum struggled fruitlessly to free itself. "It caught itself." She pulled out a Pokéball, and waited. After a minute, the Beldum had exhausted itself, going limp, and Sakura threw the ball. It absorbed the Steel-type, and Sakura held her breath as the ball shook with the Beldum's attempt at escaping. Finally, it pinged.

"We did it!" Sakura cheered, running to pick up the ball, Ochako gleefully mimicking her trainer. "We caught our first Poké-!" She stopped, noticing what looked like a small splash of what looked like mercury on the ground next to the ball. Sakura looked up, and noticed a bit more of the silvery substance on the rocks where the Beldum had gotten itself stuck.

"What is this stuff?" Sakura knew better than to touch mercury (or something that resembled it). Thinking, she remembered the Pokédex mentioning that Beldum have a circulatory system that works of magnetism instead of blood. Perhaps this silvery stuff was what the Beldum had in place of blood? She didn't notice the Pokémon bleeding when it was battling Chikorita, but considering she had only found two small splashes, if it was hurt, the injury was likely not very big. "We better take care of this," Sakura said, letting her newly caught Beldum out of its ball.

The thing immediately shoved against her and let out an angry tone. Sakura responded by looking it right in the eye and growling at it. "DOWN!"

The Beldum blinked, and shrank down a fraction of an inch.

_Well, at least it's a start_, Sakura thought. She turned to Ochako. "Calm it down with Aromatherapy so I can do a full examination.

"Chika," she said, waving her leaf and releasing clouds of scent; the air soon smelled of jasmine, tea, mint, and a number of other pleasant plants.

The Beldum tensed, but soon after, slumped in relaxation.

Sakura smiled as she took out the medical kit Tsunade had gotten for her and started looking her Pokémon over. When Sakura and Tsunade first discovered that Ochako had a natural affinity for Heal Pulse and other healing moves, Tsunade and Shizune had started teaching the little Chikorita how to fully utilize them. Aromatherapy, normally used by trainers to relieve Pokémon of Status conditions on the battlefield, could be used with more intensity to calm down an agitated Pokémon, something very useful for a doctor working with a panicking Pokémon.

After a few seconds, Sakura found the problem: the Beldum had somehow gotten an old, rusty nail wedged under one of its claws, and it was in so deep that the wound was starting to bleed. She remembered its behavior when she came across it earlier, and realized that because its body shape, the Beldum couldn't see what was hurting its claw; it must have figured it was a rock shard, and had been trying to crush it or break it loose when it was hitting rocks with its claw, only to drive the nail in deeper and make it hurt more. That also explained why it was so aggressive.

Whispering that everything would be better soon, Sakura took out a set of pliers from her medical kit, meant to pull out infected teeth, and carefully took hold of the nail. "Okay, this is going to hurt a little," she said in a soothing voice, "like pulling out a thorn." And with that, she yanked the nail out smoothly.

The Beldum let out a shocked tone, but Sakura held it down, petting it soothingly. Ochako let out another Aromatherapy cloud, and the Beldum let Sakura clean the wound and apply disinfectant. She was careful not to let any of its mercury-like blood touch her- Sakura was sure it'd be poisonous. Once she was done, Sakura turned to Ochako. "Okay, now seal the wound with Heal Pulse."

Ochako smiled, placing her leaf near the wound and releasing a wave of shimmering pink energy. Slowly, the injury faded.

"Blll?" the Beldum said, slowly flexing its claws. "Dmmm!" This time, its tone was much happier. It floated up, nuzzling against Ochako gratefully. The Beldum then turned to Sakura, looking at her with its one eye, and Sakura thought maybe it was smiling.

"You're welcome," she said happily, petting it on the head. She introduced it to Ochako. "This is Ochako. She made the pain go away. I'm Sakura, and I guess I'm your trainer."

The Beldum gave her what Sakura guessed was an appraising look. After a while, it nodded.

Smiling, Sakura took out her Pokénav, using it to scan her new Pokémon. Beldum was radically different than anything she understood. It was nearly impossible to even identify if it was a boy or a girl. Inorganic Pokémon physiology was so different from normal Pokémon that moves like Attract and Captivate had no effect on them; after all, they didn't use pheromones during mating season. The 'nav identified the Beldum as having a male physiology, and being in healthy condition. "Hmm, in that case, I think I'll name you…Tetsu. How does that sound?"

The Beldum seemed to ponder the sound for a bit, and nodded. "B…Beldmm," he said, making an effort to communicate clearly with his trainer. "…Beldum!"

Sakura, Chikorita, and Tetsu ate lunch together soon after. Sakura discovered that not only do Beldum eat, but that they appreciated homemade Poké-food- at least, such was the case with Tetsu.

Packing up, Sakura recalled Tetsu and mounted her bike, and set off, Ochako riding in her basket. They had entered the forest and had been traveling for nearly twenty minutes. The dirt road was littered with lots of rocks and weeds, so Sakura had to be careful as she rode along. Soon, they came to a turn in the road.

"Look, Ochako, a cabin!" Sakura said, pointing. Sure enough, there was a cabin at the side of the road coming into view, just as it was mentioned on the warning sign from earlier.

"Chika!" Ochako suddenly screamed, turning Sakura's head just in time for the girl to see something white and fluffy dart across the road right in front of them. The white Pokémon noticed Sakura's bike coming at it and froze. "Vee?"

"HOLY MITANK!" Sakura screamed, veering hard to avoid the frightened Eevee.

However, just as she did that, something else flew out of the bushes right after the Eevee: a boy in dark clothing.

"Bayushi, keep running, we're almost there-!" He made eye contact with Sakura just as she plowed into him.

** BAM!**

Sakura hit him head on, knocking the boy over. He hit his head on the ground with a painful thud.

The snow-white Eevee rushed to its trainer's side, nudging urgently against his face.

"…oh no, I killed him!" Sakura gasped.

"Chika!" Ochako gasped, jumping out of her basked and running over to them.

The Eevee whirled around, puffing out his white fur and hissing angrily. "VEEE!"

"Don't attack!" Sakura said quickly, nearly falling over as she quickly jumped off her bike and rushed over to Ochako. She held her hands up in a gesture of peace. "Please, it was an accident! I didn't mean to run over your trainer and make him hit his head-"

The Eevee hissed louder.

"It's okay, I'm a doctor," Sakura said in calmest voice she could, not adding the 'in-training' bit at the end. "Please, let me just check your trainer; Ochako can heal him!"

The boy groaned something, and the Eevee looked at him, and then at Sakura, and moved to the side, still on guard.

"Thank you," Sakura breathed. She knelt beside the boy, and was surprised to find she recognize him: it was Sasuke Uchiha! "What-? It's you!" she felt herself blushing. She looked back at the white Eevee, realizing it was Sasuke's beloved pet. "You're Bayushi!"

"Ee-Eevee vee!" Bayushi hissed, as if to say [_And you're not helping!_].

"Right!" she gasped. She quickly examined Sasuke over; it didn't look like he was bleeding or had any broken bones; that was good. Healing an injury without properly setting bones or dressing serious wounds was dangerous. "Ochako, use Heal Pulse."

Nodding, the Chikorita showered Sasuke with shimmering healing power. In a moment, he was stirring, eyes fluttering open.

"Ooah," he groaned, trying to sit up.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"…I think it was a green Volkswagen, Officer," Sasuke grunted painfully.

"Oh, please don't have a concision!" Sakura said.

That got Sasuke's attention. "What-!?" He realized what was going on. "Wait, you're that girl from my class! Sakura, or something!"

"You remember!" Sakura said happily. "Anyway, I sort of hit you with my bike-"

"We have to go!" Sasuke suddenly shouted, jumping to his feet. Sakura tried protesting, but Sasuke grabbed her hand and started pulling her away. "NOW!"

"What's wrong?!" Sakura asked, confused.

A deep, low growling rumbled from behind her. Gulping, Sakura slowly turned around.

Behind them stood three, fully grown and very angry Luxray.

"That," Sasuke said slowly, "is what I was running from."

**To be Continued…**


	3. Chapter 3: Shocking Rescues and Soaking-

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**Disclaimer**

Let me just start out with the standard Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Pokémon, or any of the associated or mentioned franchises/companies, and I am not making a profit on this.

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**Author's Note**

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**Review Response**

zalexd3600: Thank you for your comments and assistance.

Shadowwolf1997: I am glad you like my Pokémon choice for Sakura thus far, and hope I continue to please you as the fic goes on.

Gincuba: You flatter me, and I would like to read it. However, your link provided did not work. Perhaps you should PM me your fic's name and maybe your username of wattpad?

Navyson2001: Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy my work.

mwto: Thank you. Perhaps you can mention what gags you liked best, so I might try to incorporate them into this fic as well?

AvatarRoku: I try to go for thematic over competitiveness, though I'm also trying to make their team feel a little 'viable', at least by anime standards. What is fitting for the heroes is more important than what is powerful (though power has its own appeal, I must admit).

HarunoWolf17: …okay, for starters, I am male, so refrain from referring to me as 'gurl' or any variant thereof in the future, please. Secondly, glad you're excited about this fic, but there's no need to have a conniption over it! Calm down, love; take in deep breaths. Okay. Now, as for Sakura's Fighting-type, I was a fan of Bewear from my old fic; strong, tough, loving, and needs lots of training, but means well. I will consider what you've suggested, though Gallade is unlikely; aside from Sakura already having a Psychic, Gallade is going to be another trainer's signature 'mon.

Guest #1: Sakura is more than a medic in the Naruto universe; she is also the physically strongest of Team 7 and eventually becomes possibly the strongest kunoichi in Cannon. Metagross reflects not only physical strength, but also strength of mind (their four brains are supposed calculate things quicker than a supercomputer). As such, I felt it fit her nicely.

_Other Guests_: Thank you everyone for your advice and support, everyone. Sorry this took so long

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**The Hero's Pokémon & Accomplishments:**

**Naruto Uzumaki**:

_Team Members_: Kubo (Froakie, male, Starter)

_Badges & Awards_: None

**Sasuke Uchiha**:

_Team Members_: Bayushi (Eevee, male, Shiny), Togashi (Charmander, male, Starter)

_Badges & Awards_: None

**Sakura Haruno**:

_Team Members_: Ochako (Chikorita, female, Starter), Tetsu (Beldum, male*)

_Badges & Awards_: None

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Pokémon: Konoha Region

Chapter 3

Shocking Rescues and Soaking Situations!

Sakura stood frozen unable to think as the three Luxray stared her down. The lead one crouched, baring its teeth as it started getting ready to strike. Sakura tensed, gasping.

Sasuke, who was still holding Sakura's hand from earlier, felt her tense. "Don't make any sudden moves," he said quietly, gripping down on her hand to emphasize his point. "Do that and they'll attack!"

"They're getting ready to anyway!" Sakura whispered back.

"No, look," Sasuke said, trying to stay calm.

The lead Luxray let out a growl that grew in volume, becoming a snarl as it rose up from its crouch, taking a step back before standing up tall, flashing its teeth. The other two mimicked the leader, growling and snarling, but not attacking. Sakura flinched, but didn't move.

Sasuke went on. "Earlier, they were only chasing me, but now you're here. I think they're not sure what to think of you. Right now, they're trying to see if you'll run like prey. If you do, they'll attack. So stay put!"

Slowly, Sakura nodded. At her feet, Ochako hid behind her, scared. "Yeah, but how long are they going to wait? They're not going to just growl at us for long."

Sasuke paused, thinking carefully. "…the cabin's right behind us. If we just have a small head-start, we can make a run for it. Maybe if Bayushi and your Chikorita can distract them with something like Sand Attack or something-"

"That's the best plan you've got!?" Sakura hissed a bit too loudly. One of the Luxray growled, and Sakura almost bolted. Luckily, she didn't.

"Do you have a better one?" Sasuke said dryly. He hadn't moved a muscle since he told Sakura to stay still to begin with.

Privately, Sakura admired his nerves. Not everyone could to remain so calm under pressure- wait! That was it! "I've got an idea," Sakura whispered, and turned subtly to her Chikorita. "Ochako, use Aromatherapy." Sasuke started to protest, but Sakura subtly gestured for him to wait.

Slowly, Ochako stepped out in front of her trainer, gently waving her leaf back and forth. The Luxray moved to attack, and Sakura was about to move to pick up Ochako and just run, but the three Pokémon stopped as quickly as they started, sniffing the air. Ochako continued to wave her leaf and release perfumed clouds, and one of the Luxrays sat down, enjoying the scent. Their eyes relaxed, looking almost dreamy.

"It worked!" Sakura breathed. She held back a laugh and looked over at Sasuke, who was still holding her hand. She blushed, smiling.

If Sasuke noticed, he didn't show it. "Come on, before they realize what's happening." He started moving towards the cabin, still keeping his eyes on the Luxray. To his surprise, however, he felt Sakura pull away from him; he turned, and saw her moving over to her bike. "What are you doing?!"

"I have to get my egg!" Sakura said in a harsh whisper. In all the excitement, she had almost forgotten that it was still strapped onto her bike, which was leaning on its kickstand in the middle of the road, about five feet away.

Sasuke said something, but it was too quiet for Sakura to understand. The girl moved to the bike as inconspicuously as she could, and looked back at the Luxray. One of them was looking lazily in her direction, but its eyes were unfocused, and another had rolled onto its back. Deciding that there was no danger, Sakura let out the breath she was holding and started undoing with the strap holding the egg case in place. Unfortunately, it released with a very loud click.

Sakura gasped, looking over at the Luxray. The one that had been looking lazily in her direction was now meeting her gaze. Its eyes lit up, flashing red with anger. Letting out a savage roar, the Luxray slapped its companions out off their dazes and arched its back, lightning crackling around its body. It released the electricity in a bursting Discharge attack, knocking Sakura and her bike to the ground.

Sakura screamed, scrambling to grab the egg case and get up as the Luxrays prepared to attack. A Razor Leaf attack hit the Luxray closest to her in the face. It dug its claws into the ground and came to a sudden stop, its companions crashing into it from behind. The lead Luxray turned to face the attack's point of origin, and Ochako loosed another Razor Leaf, letting out as mighty a battle cry as she could. This time, the Luxray just swatted the leaf aside, and started charging up electricity-

-only for lightning to explode out from underneath the center Luxray! It was blown off its feet while its companions were thrown to the side.

Before Sakura could understand what happened, she found herself being pulled to her feet by her free hand while she clutched her egg case in the other one.

"RUN!" Sasuke shouted, dragging her by the hand.

Dazed as she was, Sakura had enough sense to obey, running as quickly as possible. She heard cries of pain and the conflict of battle behind her, but she didn't look. She just kept her mind focused on the cabin, which was almost in reach.

Sasuke slammed into door, nearly ripping it off the hinges as he swung it open. As he pushed Sakura in first, she turned around. Ochako and Bayushi where running after them, the confused and very angry Luxray nipping at their heels.

Thinking quickly, Sakura pulled Ochako's Heal Ball from her belt. "Ochako, return!" she shouted, recalling her Pokémon.

Much to Sakura's shock, Sasuke didn't do the same, but instead shouted, "Bayushi, Quick Attack!"

The Eevee's little legs did double time, putting a few precious feet of distance between him and the Luxray. It was all he needed; with one final burst, the Eevee leap inside the cabin, and Sasuke slammed the door shut, bracing himself against it. Half a second later, the door shuttered as one of the Luxray slammed against it, nearly forcing it open! Bayushi jumped against the door and helped Sasuke shove it shut as the Luxray desperately tried to open it. "BOLT IT!" Sasuke managed to grunt.

Gasping in surprise, Sakura put her own weight to the door, and once it was in place, quickly bolted the lock. Even so, all three of them continued to press against the door as the Luxray shoved against it. Finally, after few seconds, it grew quiet.

Sakura looked at Sasuke and smiled, relaxing. "That was close-"

A cacophony of angry cries and yowls cut her off, followed by flashes of electricity from outside.

Sakura screamed and latched onto Sasuke, squeezing him tight. He cried out and nearly stumbled in shock. "What's happening!?" she shouted.

The clamor outside continued, and Sasuke finally just pulled away from Sakura and looked outside one of the slotted windows. He winced at what he saw. "Ugh, I hope you didn't like that bike."

Sakura dared to peer out the window next to him. The three Luxray were taking their anger out on Sakura's bike, blasting it with electricity or pulling it apart and throwing it around. "Darn it!" Sakura cried, wincing as she watched her bike get destroyed. "Well, it was getting kind of old," she sighed, trying to look on the bright side. "The important thing is that we're all safe, and I've got all my stuff-" She paused, noticing one Luxray was trying to rip open a traveling bag…the extra one Sakura had strapped to her bike. She groaned, wishing she had remembered to grab it earlier.

"Is that important?" Sasuke asked.

"Not really," Sakura admitted, "I'm wearing my backpack, and that has all my supplies and stuff. That one just has non-essential stuff, like emergency rations and some extra-"

The Luxray succeeded in ripping the bag open, resulting in an explosion of clothing as its contents spilled out.

"-clothes," Sakura sighed, feeling her face turn red. A pair of pink panties had fallen across on top of the face of one of the Luxrays, who sat down on his haunches and comically stood still, not sure what to do. Sakura winced.

Sasuke had the good sense to look away without saying a word. He switched on the cabin's lights, and sat down at a table. "I guess we're stuck here until they leave. How long do you think that'll be?"

"…long," Sakura said. The Luxray seemed to be having a good time now. The one with the panties on its head was tearing open a bag of food, while the other two were playing tug-o-war with a dress Sakura had saved her allowance for three weeks to buy and hadn't even worn yet. She watched them destroy her stuff for a few more seconds before a noise from behind caught her attention.

Sasuke had called out a small, lion cub-like Pokémon onto the table and was looking at a nasty cut over its left eye that was still fresh. "Hold still," Sasuke ordered as he tried applying antibiotic ointment to the wound, only for his Pokémon to growl and pull away. Sasuke applied the ointment a bit too forcefully, and the lion cub hissed and threatened to bite. Bayushi, who was sitting on the table nearby, became agitated and started to hiss back.

"Here, let me help," Sakura said. Reluctantly, Sasuke allowed Sakura to move in next to him and push his hands aside. Carefully, Sakura approached Sasuke's Pokémon, moving smoothing and slowly, just like Tsunade taught her. She stroked the lion cub gently, whispering soothing words before even reaching for the ointment. "That's right, you're a brave Pokémon, aren't you? I know your eye hurts; we're going to make it better, okay? That's a good boy."

Sakura continued until the Pokémon was calm enough for her to have a good look at him. She breathed a sigh of relief; the cut to his eye, while deep, did not appear to have damaged the eye itself. There were also several other small cuts all over the lion cub's body, along with several old scars. Sakura winced, realizing she had gotten blood all over her hands from petting the Pokémon. "What happened to you, little guy?"

Sasuke's Pokémon growled at being called 'little', and Sakura suddenly noticed it looked like a miniature version of the Luxray outside. A thought occurred to her. "Uh, Sasuke, what sort of Pokémon is this?"

"…he's a Shinx, and before you ask, no, those Luxray outside are not his parents," Sasuke said firmly. His Shinx growled at the mention of the Luxray.

Sakura pulled out her Pokédex and flipped it open.

"Shinx, the Flash Pokémon. Shinx's muscles generate electricity as they extend and contract, and it can channel this electricity into its teeth, claws, or tails to attack. When threatened, a Shinx can channel electricity through its fur and create a dazzling flash, allowing it to flee while is attacker is blinded. Shinx evolves into Luxio, and then into Luxray."

"I came across Akodo as he was being attacked by a group of Shinx that were led by a Luxio," Sasuke explained, and after a moment of confusion, she realized that 'Akodo' must have been the name Sasuke gave his Shinx. "They must have been from a rival tribe and ganged up on him. I jumped in and helped drive them off, but not before the Luxio got Akodo on the eye. I caught him, and was going to find Naruto and see if he knew anything about first aid, but then the Luxio came back…with three Luxray. The three chased me down until I ran into you. You know the rest."

Sakura had been applying the ointment to Akodo's cut while Sasuke spoke, and took the time to clean up his other injuries, too. "Hmm, by the look of all these old scars, I guess this guy's gotten into a lot of fights."

"Shinx!" Akodo growled proudly, holding his head high. Sasuke looked rather pleased with his Pokémon, allowing himself a small smile.

Sakura pulled out Ochako's Heal Ball and called the Chikorita out. "We're going to need some healing, Ochako."

"Chi-ka!" Ochako cheered, administering a Heal Pulse to Akodo. Many of his injuries faded, and a few disappeared completely; unfortunately, the cut over his eye mostly remained. Sakura sighed. Ochako might have natural talent as a healer, but she was still inexperienced. With proper training, she'd be able to heal wounds so that not even a scar remained, but for now, this would have to do.

"Impressive," Sasuke commented as his Shinx looked over his body, no longer wincing in pain with each movement.

Ochako finished with Akodo, and then happily turned to Bayushi, offering to remove his scruffs and injuries.

"That's very thoughtful," Sakura said as Ochako proudly got to work. She turned to Sasuke. "Do you have any other injured Pokémon?"

"Oh, right," Sasuke said oddly, pulling out a Pokéball. "Uh, Togashi, come on out."

Togashi, Sasuke's Charmander, was in worse shape than Bayushi, but seemed determined not to show it. Even so, Togashi politely allowed Ochako to heal him, and thanked her for her efforts.

After all that, Ochako wobbled as she stood, and Sakura set out a blanket for her to rest on. "Healing takes a lot of energy for even an experienced Pokémon, Ochako. You need to lay down."

"It's rather impressive for a Starter Pokémon to even know Heal Pulse," Sasuke pointed out. "How does she know it?"

"I'm Prof. Tsunade's student," Sakura said proudly. "She noticed Ochako had a natural knack for healing, and gave her some special training before we started our journey. But I could ask you the same thing about your Eevee. He used a Discharge attack earlier!"

"That was Mimic," Sasuke explained. "My uncle taught it to Bayushi before I started my journey."

"What a coincidence." Sakura giggled, though Sasuke didn't understand why.

She looked at each of Sasuke's Pokémon. Bayushi was now sitting in Sasuke's lap, with Akodo napping on the table next to him while Sasuke absentmindedly stroked his back. Togashi alternated between looking out the window at the Luxray and walking around the room, as if on guard. Sometimes, he'd walk over to check on Akodo or Ochako; it was kind of cute, all things considered.

An odd silence filled the air. Sakura decided to break it. "You know, I know you owned your Eevee before becoming a trainer- I remember seeing you walking him at the park. And Togashi's your Starter, right? But I vaguely remember you had another Pokémon…"

Sasuke tensed slightly, but Sakura didn't notice.

She went on. "Didn't you have a cute Houndour puppy that used to follow you everywhere? Yeah, now I remember you showing him off for show-and-tell a few years ago. Where is he? Or…was he your father's pet? Wait, I remember seeing him walking a Houndoom, so I guess-"

"That would be Genji, my father's Houndoom's; I had a Houndour named Shiba," Sasuke said curtly, and then added, "He's gone. He was stolen when I was 10."

That killed the conversation. Sakura clumsily apologized, but Sasuke didn't seem to notice. He pulled out his Pokénav, and was about to call someone.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked.

"Naruto needs to be warned about the Luxray," Sasuke said simply.

"You didn't see the warning sign near the entrance of River Scar Valley?" Sakura asked. She wasn't very surprised that Naruto and Sasuke were traveling together; they did seem to be each other's only close friend, after all.

"We did, but we didn't think it was serious," Sasuke grunted. He noticed Sakura giving him a look and got defensive. "My father mentioned that there had been no Luxray attacks on people yet, and he thought the signs were unnecessary- he works for the Pokémon League," Sasuke added, hoping to clarify. Sakura decided not point-out the irony of Sasuke getting attacked by a pack of Luxray. "Anyway, for all we know, a Luxray could be stalking him right now!"

**-0o0o0-**

Naruto yawned, stretching his arms out wide. He was bored!

Naruto had challenged Sasuke to see who could catch the coolest Pokémon first, but so far, all he had found was a Rattata, a few Pidgey, a Spearow, and an Oddish- none of which struck him as a cool Pokémon. Sighing, Naruto looked down at Kubo; he had let the Bubble Frog Pokémon stay out of his Pokéball after fighting off the first wild Pokémon they encountered. "Don't worry, buddy, we'll find a perfect first Pokémon for our crew. We just gotta be patient."

"Kie," Kubo said with a nod.

They walked along a bit further before reaching a wide river, its waters roaring.

"Want to try our luck fishing?" Naruto said, scanning the waters. They were foamy white and rapid. "Uh, on second thought, that's probably not a good idea. The current looks dangerous. Besides, I guess we shouldn't catch a second Water-type, right?"

Kubo gave an agreeing croak.

Naruto stepped under the shade of a large maple tree near the river's edge and pulled out his Pokénav, looking up a map of the valley. He had Kubo jump up onto his shoulder and the two started searching to see if they could find someplace nearby that looked interesting.

"…I don't know, Kubo. Maybe we're aiming too high. My mom's first catch was a Caterpie, and she treasured it," Naruto said, looking thoughtful.

"Froakie," Kubo growled, sighing a little. He had been wanting to outdo Sasuke in Naruto's little contest. A strong Pokémon never turned down a challenge…and yet, a good Pokémon listened to their trainer. Naruto might be right. It was more important to have a true companion on the team rather than a fancy one.

Naruto's Pokénav rang, the screen indicating that Sasuke was calling him. But before Naruto could answer it, a shadow from above blotted out his light for half a second, catching Naruto's attention. Something was falling from the sky…and it looked like it was heading right at him!

Wasting no time, Naruto dove down and rolled to the side. However, his needlessly complex dodge was unnecessary- the thing crashed high in the maple tree with a loud crack, half-breaking a large branch, before falling into the rapids. It was a reptilian Pokémon of some sort, though Naruto hadn't gotten a good look at it, and it had been knocked unconscious.

"Oh shoot!" Naruto gasped, running to the edge of the river and trying to grab the unconscious Pokémon before the river carried it off, but it floated just out of reach. "Kubo, we gotta do something!"

"Froakie!" Kubo cried, diving into the rapids after the other Pokémon without hesitation. Naruto gasped in horror, but a second later, Kubo popped back to the surface, holding the other Pokémon tightly. The Froakie spat his long tongue out at Naruto, who caught it.

"Smart boy!" Naruto cheered, trying his best to keep hold of the slippery appendage. The force of the rapids was so strong it nearly pulled Naruto in with them. Bracing himself, Naruto tried leading Kubo over to the shoreline- it seemed a safer idea than pulling Kubo in against the currents by his tongue. He also finally got a good look at the other Pokémon. "Hey, that's a Bagon!" he gasped excitedly.

There was a horrible crashing sound from behind- the branch the Bagon had crashed into broke completely, falling towards Naruto- on reflex, Naruto jumped out of the way and landed in the river.

**-0o0o0-**

"He's not answering," Sasuke said, an edge of worry in his voice.

Sakura looked out the window. "We can check on him as soon as the Luxray trio runs off. It looks like they're getting bored, so maybe they'll leave soon."

"If they don't decide to take a nap," Sasuke said grimly. He sighed, and tried calling Naruto's Pokénav again.

**-0o0o0-**

"Help- GRP!" Naruto struggled to fight the current, only for it to pull him under again. Something grabbed him and pulled him back to the surface. It was Kubo, one arm wrapped about the unconscious Bagon and the other one holding onto Naruto as he kicked his little feet as hard as he could. No longer panicking, Naruto realized they couldn't hope to fight the current. Looking for something to grab hold of, Naruto saw a low hanging branch that just might be within reach-

The river suddenly surged, and Naruto was pulled away before he could grab the branch. Naruto reached for it desperately, not looking where the current was carrying him, until the back of his head was slammed into something hard. Everything went black.

**-0o0o0-**

When the Luxray lost interest and left, Sakura insisted they wait a few minutes, just in case they decided to come back. Finally, she decided it was safe for them to leave.

Luckily, Sasuke's and Naruto's Pokénavs were equipped so that one could locate the other. It took about half an hour find him- or more accurately, his 'nav.

Sasuke and Sakura followed the signal, and ended up next to a river. A huge branch from a tree had fallen, halfway in the river but still anchored to the shoreline. Underneath it, Bayushi found Naruto's orange Pokénav, handing it to Sasuke.

"Wh-Where's Naruto?" Sakura asked nervously. "You don't think…maybe a Luxray-?"

"No," Sasuke said firmly, cutting her off. "There's no sign of a struggle or anything." He looked the scene over for a moment. "Maybe the branch started collapsing while Naruto was under it, and he dove into the river in a panic, and dropped his 'nav while he was at it."

Sakura gasped.

Sasuke ignored her. "Come on, let's follow the river. It's our best chance of finding him."

Sakura nodded, and then said, "I'm sure he's fine. For all we know, he didn't fall in the river at all! He could have just dodged the tree and didn't realize he dropped his Pokénav."

Sasuke looked at her cynically, but privately appreciated her attempt at cheering him up.

**-0o0o0-**

Naruto was bought back to consciousness by what felt like him coughing up his lungs. In truth, it was all the water in his lungs he coughed up. He was confused and disoriented- what was going on?

A strange sensation, neither painful nor pleasant, stitched its way through his back, and Naruto vaguely noticed what felt like two small hands rubbing him. The strange feeling spread, and before Naruto could stop himself, he coughed up another mouthful of water. The sensation stopped, and Naruto found it much easier to breathe.

Still, he was chilled to the bone, with blossoming pains all over. He tried to get up, but the small hands gently pushed him down.

"D-Don't move," a soft, feminine voice said. "You're safe. Don't worry. You're safe."

Groaning, Naruto turned to see the speaker. It was a girl, about his age, with dark blue hair, and strange eyes. Lavender, without pupils. "Who…who are you?" Naruto managed to gargle, suddenly feeling very tired. "Where's my Pokémon?" He wanted to get up and look for Kubo. And the Bagon, too…poor guy hit his head and fell in the water. But, Naruto also just wanted to lay down and sleep; he was cold, and he was tired.

"They're safe," the girl assured him, pointing. Kubo and the Bagon were laid out on a blanket next to Naruto. A small, white, human-like Pokémon with blue hair was tending to the two. In the very back of his mind, Naruto thought it looked like a Ralts, but that couldn't be right. Ralts had green hair, after all.

"Oh, there they are," Naruto said, suddenly feeling relieved. He reached over to pet Kubo; the motion felt sluggish, like his arm was wet cement. Groaning, he let his arm fall to his side and allowed the girl to help him down. He must have been dreaming already, because he thought he saw the girl's hands glowing as she did so. Strange, because he also felt a lot warmer where her hands moved…it was a nice feeling. It caused the pain in his body to fade, and made him feel like sleeping.

"Rest now," the girl ordered. "Everything will be fine, Naruto."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Naruto said, yawning. He cracked open his eyes, looking at the girl. "Hey…how'd…you know my name?" And with that, he fell asleep.

Hinata Hyuga sat up, looking down at the boy for a moment before sighing and turning to her Ralts. "Well, Kikyo, what should we do now?"

"Ral-Ralts?" Kikyo suggested, sending her trainer a telepathic suggestion.

"Uh, check his Pokénav? You mean to see if there's someone we should call?" Hinata said. She blushed lightly. "Um, don't you think that's a little invasive? I wouldn't want someone looking at my phone without permission, unless it was an emergency."

"Ralts," Kikyo replied, blushing like her trainer. Deeply empathetic Pokémon, Ralts could feel the emotions of their trainers, and often reflected them. Or even exaggerate them, in some cases. "Ral," she added, pointing out that this _**was**_ an emergency.

"I'm not sure it is," Hinata countered. "Aside from being tired and cold, I don't think Naruto or his Pokémon are seriously hurt. We could probably leave them and they'd be fine- not that I'm suggesting that!" she added quickly. "And besides, I'm not sure he has a Pokénav with him. I didn't notice one in his jacket." Hinata pointed over to said jacket, which she had laid out to dry nearby.

"Ralts-Ralts!?" Kikyo said, hands on her hips. …_Why didn't you say that first!?_...

Hinata apologized, and the two mused about the situation. In the end, they decided to just wait until Naruto woke up.

Before long, however, Kikyo gasped, eyes glowing behind her blue hair.

"What is it?" Hinata asked.

Kikyo pointed off into the distance. A second later, a shout from someone unseen broke the silence.

"Naruto! Naruto, where are you!?"

"He's here!" Hinata called automatically, rising to her feet. She paused and turned to Kikyo. "That is a friend of his, right?"

Kikyo nodded, giggling a little.

A moment later, a pink-haired girl found them. She was red-faced and sweaty, with a Chikorita running beside her. "Naruto!" she gasped, moving over to Naruto's side. "Sasuke, over here!" she shouted back the way she came. Sakura took in a few breaths to steady herself, looking up at Hinata. "You…you found him?" she gasped, trying to catch her breath.

Hinata nodded, looking a bit red. "Yes. Y-you're a friend of his?"

Finally, with one last shutting breath, Sakura steadied herself. "No. Not really. I only know him casually. We're both from Oakcrown City." Sakura paused, looking Naruto over. "I suppose you could say I'm a friend of a friend of his. Hey, his clothes are wet. You pulled him out of the river?"

"Y-Yes," Hinata stammered, and then added, "I mean, my Ralts did!"

"You saved his life," Sakura said, checking Naruto's pulse. "Hmm, his breathing is normal. Did you have to give him CPR?" While she was asking the other girl questions, Sakura instructed Ochako to look after the Froakie and Bagon that were laying down nearby.

"Um, no…yes…not really?" Hinata said, blushing horribly. "I got the water out of his lungs…if that's what you mean."

Sakura continued asking questions, not sure what Hinata meant, while Hinata felt more and more embarrassed, her face now red as a tomato. Next to her, Kikyo felt her trainer's embarrassment. It was flowing out of her like a flood. She just wanted to disappear…

"By the way," Sakura said, looking back over her shoulder for the dark-haired girl, "I'm Sakura Haruno. What was your name again-?"

Aside from the unconscious Naruto and his Pokémon, Sakura was completely alone.

"-where'd you go?" She looked around, and then turned to Ochako. "She was right there, right?"

"Chika!" Ochako said, nodding vigorously.

"Where did she go?"

The Chikorita shrugged.

There was a crashing sound through the bushes, and Sakura expected it to be the dark-haired girl. Instead, it turned out to be Bayushi, with Sasuke following close behind.

"Sakura! Naruto!" he gasped. "What happened?"

"…honestly, I'm not sure," Sakura admitted.

**-0o0o0-**

…**Elsewhere in the forest…**

**0o0o0**

Hinata and Kikyo appeared with a flash of shimmering light, far away from Naruto, his Pokémon, or the pink-haired girl. The shift was so disorientating that Hinata fell backwards onto her butt. She stammered a bit of confused gibberish before recovering. "Where-? What-? Kikyo! You _Teleported_ us!"

"Ralts!" Kikyo cried apologetically. She sent Hinata a flood of telepathic emotions and thoughts. She didn't mean to! She was just so embarrassed, and feeling Hinata's shyness, and everything else was so overwhelming! It was an accident, honest! Kikyo covered her face in shame, sobbing.

"D-don't cry! It was just an accident!" Hinata said understandingly, giving her Pokémon a hug. "Please don't cry."

Sniffling, Kikyo telepathically suggested that she could Teleport the two of the back.

"No!" Hinata gasped, then caught herself. "I-I mean…after disappearing, and having to explain what happened…it might be less embarrassing to just leave things as is."

"…Ralts" Kikyo said slowly, noticing her trainer's emotions drift back to the boy, and to memories from many years ago. There were lots of reasons Hinata wouldn't want to be embarrassed around him. The Ralts obeyed her trainer, but privately, she hoped they'd cross paths again soon.

**-0o0o0-**

…**A little while later…**

**0o0o0**

"Do you remember anything that happened?" Sakura asked.

She, Sasuke and Naruto where sitting back in the cabin along the trail. Naruto was stripped down to his boxers and sitting next to the heater so he could dry off.

Sighing, Naruto shook his head. "Not really. It's all sort of a blur. I fell in, and the next thing I remember, you two are helping me get to my feet. I sort of remember glowing hands making me feel warm."

"That doesn't make any sense," Sakura said, sighing. "Maybe you'll remember more later. You've got a nasty bump on your head. It's probably why you can't remember what happened clearly"

"Or maybe…she was a ghost," Sasuke said ominously. He knew Naruto had a fear of ghosts, and loved teasing him for it.

"There's no such thing as real ghosts," Sakura said flatly.

Grunting, Naruto ignored the two and looked around at the cabin. Sakura's Chikorita was curled up in a bed, sleeping. She had overexerted herself trying to heal Naruto and his Pokémon, Sakura explained, and needed rest. Nearby, Sasuke's Pokémon, including his newly caught Shinx, rested as well.

Sasuke had told him about his own little mishap, and Sakura's timely assistance.

Chuckling, Naruto looked at his own Pokémon, Kubo, who was sitting down to a big bowl of Pokéfeed, with the Bagon they had rescued sitting across from him and eating as well.

"You are planning on catching him, right?" Sasuke asked, noticing Naruto's gaze. "Because, if you're not…" He trailed off, reaching for a Pokéball.

"Don't even think about it," Naruto growled. He turned his attention back to the Bagon. "I'm just not sure what to do with him. I mean, I never really fought him. He just kinda fell…from the sky."

Sakura wasn't sure what Naruto was talking about, having never seen a Bagon before, which was kind of embarrassing for her, as Tsunade was a Dragon-type specialist. "What even is that?" she finally asked, taking out her Pokédex.

"Bagon, the Rock Head Pokémon," it chimed. "Bagon dream of one day souring across the sky, and in doomed attempts to fly, they hurl themselves off cliffs and other great heights. Generations of crashes has resulted in the Bagon species possessing skulls as tough and durable as tempered steel."

"I wonder how it's affected their brain development," Sakura mused, looking at the little dragon as he ate his dinner, staring absentmindedly at the wall."

"I think he hit his head too hard when he fell," Naruto explained. "My mom has a Salamence, this little guy's final form, and she's bred the big girl, so I've been around Bagon before. They're a lot more energetic than this."

"Well, if you want, I can have a look," Sakura offered.

She got up and tried to examine the Bagon's head, only for him to squirm away from her. Naruto got up and held him, explaining that they were only trying to help. Kubo followed his trainer's example, translating the situation. Stubbornly, the Bagon held still, looking rather angry and defiant, though Sasuke noticed he was oddly submissive to Naruto's touch.

After a moment, Sakura found what she was looking for. "Yep, you were right Naruto. There's a hairline crack on the top of his head's bone-ridges. Its so small, I didn't notice it earlier." She pointed it out to Naruto, then took out her Pokénav, activating its medical scanner. "Hmm, we're in luck. The crack doesn't go all the way through. Still, that's some serious damage for something that's supposed to be as hard as tempered steel. How far did he fall, again?"

Naruto shook his head as he let the Bagon go. "That's the weird part. From what I remember, he fell from the sky!" Sakura and Sasuke looked at him skeptically, and Naruto elaborated. "He fell from somewhere up in the sky way above the trees! I even noticed his shadow blocking out the sun for second, but there wasn't anything that high up for him to jump from!"

Sasuke nodded thoughtfully. "When we found Naruto's Pokénav under that branch, I noticed it had fallen from the tallest tree in the area. If this Bagon crashed into it, that means he must have fallen from somewhere higher."

The three looked at each other, not sure what to make of it. Naruto spoke up. "Some of my mom's Bagons could use Dragon Rush to jet up like 10 feet into the sky before falling back down. Maybe this little guy climbed up the highest tree and-"

"HOLY MILTANK!" Sakura screamed.

The Bagon, having been left to his own devices, quickly scrambled up onto the table and jumped off it. Naruto's hand shot out and caught him just as his feet left the table, pushing him back on the table, and Sakura couldn't help but notice the boy had done so reflexively.

"Easy, little buddy! Your head has got a booboo on it! We can't let you crash around until its fixed, okay?" Naruto said gently, scratching the Bagon on the back. It was a spot where their mother would lick to calm them down, and the Bagon was suddenly releasing a sound that blended purring and growling. Naruto just laughed and turned to the others. "When you grow up around all your mom's baby Pokémon, you learn how to handle 'em quickly."

"How can a boy who struggled in school know so much about Pokémon?" Sakura muttered before she could help it.

"What was that?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing," Sakura lied, and quickly added, "I was just wondering about where this guy even comes from."

Naruto blinked. "Now that you mention it, that is strange…Bagon are native to mountain regions, but the closest one's like 100 miles away!"

"The closest one is Mount Mourning, and it's about 40 miles away," Sasuke said, correcting him.

"Yeah, what Sasuke said," Naruto shrugged, continuing to scratch the Bagon's back. "So how did this little guy get all the way over here and fall out of the sky?"

"Why don't you ask him?" Sakura suggested rhetorically, only for Naruto to get bright-eyed and tell her that was genius.

"Hey, little buddy," Naruto said gently, looking at the Bagon. "Can you tell us how you got here?"

"Brr?" he grunted, a bit confused.

"How did you get here?" Naruto asked slowly, picking him up and walking over to a window. "You-" he pointed at the Bagon "-fell out off the sky-" Naruto pointed to the sky "-and hit a tree." He pointed at a tree. "Can you tell us how that happened?"

Sakura quietly leaned over to Sasuke, whispering. "Don't tell me he can actually understand Pokémon?"

Sasuke just shushed her, watching.

The Bagon had been looking up at the sky and reaching for it, grunting and wiggling in Naruto's grip. However, as Naruto continued to ask his him questions and point at things, the Bagon suddenly stopped. His eyes widened, first in confusion, and then fear. Letting out a pitiful squeak, the Bagon tried wiggling free from Naruto's grip. The boy set him down gently, only for the Bagon to let out a horrible shriek, holding his head and rocking back and forth.

"Easy, little buddy! Don't be scared," Naruto said, speaking over the noise. Kubo hopped over to his trainer's side, trying to comfort and calm the crying Pokémon.

The rest of the cabin was in a similar panic. The sleeping Pokémon had been woken by the shrill cry, and were either under the impression something was attacking, or else someone had been hurt. "No, settle down!" Sasuke ordered, grabbing Akodo by the collar as he puffed out his fur and started hissing at Bayushi, who had crashed into him. The Shinx gave him a small shock, only to recoil upon realizing he had zapped his trainer.

Luckily, Naruto had managed to get the Bagon under control before things got worse. Now, he held the crying Pokémon in a tight hug, rocking him back and forth. "Easy, boy," he said soothingly. "Don't be afraid…don't be afraid."

After a few minutes, the Bagon calmed down, half asleep.

"What was that?" Sasuke demanded, his hair still standing on end.

"I think he can't remember what happened," Naruto said slowly. "You know how I can't remember the girl who pulled me out of the river because of that bump on my head? My guess is this poor guy's got it worse. He hit his head pretty hard. He probably can't remember a thing…his family, his home. No wonder he was in a daze all this time. It suddenly just hit him, and he couldn't help but cry."

Slowly, the Bagon opened his eyes and looked up at Naruto, nodding.

"Have you considered a job in a Pokémon daycare? You'd be a natural," Sakura suggested.

"I'm talented and I'm empathetic. I can't help it," Naruto said proudly.

He paused, and pulled a Pokéball from his belt. "Hey, little buddy," Naruto said, addressing the Bagon, "I know you're scared and confused. But maybe if you go with us, we can help you remember things. We can help you find out what happened."

Next to him, Kubo crossed his arms and nodded. "Froakie!"

"Baaag?" The Bagon looked up at Naruto thoughtfully, and smiled. "Bagon!"

With that, he bumped the ball with his nose and was absorbed by it, letting it catch him with a single ping.

Giggling inanely, Naruto fist-pumped. "Alright! Our first catch!" he shouted, giving Kubo a fist-bump.

"Froakie!"

Naruto called out his Bagon, giving him fist-bump as well.

"What should we call you?" Naruto said thoughtfully. He looked out the window towards the sky. "Hmm…how does Sora sound?"

His Bagon clapped his hands. Sora he would be!

"Oh, isn't this sickeningly cute," Sasuke grunted.

Next to him, Akodo nodded and mimicked his trainer's eyeroll.

"Hey Sakura, do you think your little medic can treat Sora's head-wound?" Naruto asked, pointing first at Ochako and then at the hairline crack Sakura had found.

"We're nowhere near the level for healing broken bones yet," Sakura admitted. "Even if we were, Ochako's too tired to heal so much as a bruise!" True enough, her poor Chikorita was already drifting off as where she stood. Sakura caught her and put her back to bed. "I'll put a patch on it so he can't make it worse by accident, but we should really take him to a Pokémon center and let the professionals handle it."

Naruto let Sakura do her work, and asked her how her journey had gone. "We told you about how we got here, but what about you? Have you caught any Pokémon yet?"

Sakura's eyes widened, and she let out a laugh. With all the excitement that had happened, she indeed had forgotten about everything else. Calling Tetsu out, she explained out she had managed to catch the Beldum after he got stuck in a rock, and then how she pulled the rusty nail stuck in his claw and earned his loyalty.

When she was finished, Naruto smiled. "Well, what do you know? All three of us caught our first Pokémon by saving them. You helped out Tetsu, Sasuke saved Akodo from that gang of bullies, and Kubo and I pulled Sora from the river. That has to be destiny or something, right?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "There's no such thing as destiny."

Shrugging, Naruto looked over at Sakura. "So, what are you planning on doing now?"

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Were you planning on going to Teakgrove Town? We're going there, too! Why not join us?" Naruto suggested. "I bet you'll be a big help!"

"Having a medic around would be helpful," Sasuke pointed out bluntly.

"Besides, you owe her," Naruto added quickly.

Sakura and Sasuke looked at him questioningly.

"Think about it," Naruto pointed out. "She saved your life. So, you own her a life debt. Until you save her life, you're indebted to her, on your family's honor!"

"…I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way," Sasuke pointed out. "Besides, she only saved my life after running me over."

Sakura winced.

"You tarnish your family's honor by arguing semantics!" Naruto said dramatically. "What would your poor father say?"

"…that you're a nut who's making this up?"

Naruto huffed. "Besides, you owe her a bike! She had to sacrifice it (and all her other stuff) in your escape!"

Sakura gasped. "Hey, that's right!" She batted her eyelashes flirtatiously. "You do owe me!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Not a chance."

"We'll see about that," Sakura said with a challenging tone, but Sasuke just shrugged it off. Sakura just laughed, deciding he was playing hard to get. Of course she'd be delighted to travel to with Sasuke…and even Naruto, she had to admit. The boy was proving amazingly resourceful and knowledgeable about Pokémon care. Naruto might even be able to give her some pointers about handling the egg Tsunade gave her, if what he said about growing up around baby Pokémon was true. She smiled at Naruto, and then at Sasuke. "Yeah, I'd be delighted to travel with you."

"Just you wait! This is going to be the start of a legend!" Naruto said, holding his hand out. "Come on team, bring it together!

Sakura laughed, reaching over to grab Naruto's wrist. The two turned to Sasuke, who rolled his eyes again, but reluctantly reached his arm out, grabbing Sakura's wrist and letting Naruto grab his, forming a triangle between the three.


	4. Chapter 4: A Girl, a Dog Trainer, and 3-

**-0-**

**Disclaimer**

Let me just start out with the standard Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Pokémon, or any of the associated or mentioned franchises/companies, and I am not making a profit on this.

-0-0-0-0-

**Author's Note**

Sorry everyone for taking forever to post this. I was really enjoying my new job as a student assistant at my university, feeling very good about myself, when the Wuhan Virus struck, and my life temporarily fell apart. I lost my job, my hometown was shut down, and everything just went crazy. I held off on writing while I got everything fixed up; I got my job back, though I'll have to be moving on, soon.

Hopefully, with my life in more order, I'll be able to keep up with my fic. I want to be able to post at least a chapter a month, from now on. My track record says otherwise, but I need to be more responsible, and keeping up with a simple fic is a good place to start. Thank you all to my loyal readers for putting up with me. On a plus note, I have the skeleton of my next few chapters written, so that should help.

_**A very important note**_: after some consideration and talking it over with my beta-reader, I've decided to change the name of Sakura's Beldum. Originally, he was named Jupiter; however, I've decided to go exclusively with Japanese names, at least for the main heroes. It just feels better, in retrospect. As such, from now on, the Beldum formally known as Jupiter will henceforth be known as _**Tetsu**_. Sakura, like Sasuke and Hinata, will have a subtle theme to their Pokémon names. I won't say what it is yet, but if you look up Ochako and Tetsu, you might be able to figure it out…especially as she gets more team members.

-0-0-0-0-

**Review Response**

Chrisplayz: Thank you; I'm glad you like it.

clynch3: Sorry, but nickit is not on Naruto's list of Pokémon I have planned for him. Kurama is already confirmed to be a Zorua.

Shadowwolf1997: Kata will be coming back, though Rhapsody returning is not something I've got planned. However, his persona and basic character might be brought back in a new teammate of Hinata's. I'm actually surprised you mentioned him, since most of my readers didn't seem very attached to Hinata's Totodile.

mwto: Yes, I plan to use a number of my old gags (as you'll see when you read this chapter). Bagon was something I had planned for a long time in my old fic, since Naruto's mother had a Salamence; I decided that because Pseudo-Legendary Pokemon take so long to evolve, it made more since to have the heroes catch them early in their journeys, rather than towards the end, as often is the case in the games.

HarunoWolf17: Love the enthusiasm, friend, though you might want to reign it in, just a tad. Thank you for enjoying my work so much. I appreciate your drive, as well. Hinata's Ralts is female, so it really isn't possible for Kikyo to be a Gallade, just so you know. Also, Hinata is an Aura Guardian (in-training) this time around. I found it simplified my story while still giving her family a unique trait; you'll see more about that this chapter. Yes, the pairings will remain the same as before, and I will consider your request for Pamchan (don't get your hopes up, though). Thank you for reading, and I hope you continue to enjoy my work.

Vvtop: Thank you for being forthright and honest in your review. I will point out that my original fic is several years old, and I could argue that I used several Pokémon before they became 'typical' of the heroes, at least as far as I can tell. I just used Pokémon I liked for them. Also, more than anything, I think the personalities of each Pokémon are what matters. Personality is really what determines if a Pokémon feels fleshed out, unique, and brings something to each character, moreso than if it is commonly used or not.

Dreaming of the Phoenix: Thank you for being such a loyal reader over the years. Sorry this took so long to post. I'm greatly enjoying the story now, which is much more cohesive. Hinata's story, as well as everyone else's, will be much more straightforward and involved in the plot this time around.

mwto: Thank you. Perhaps you can mention what gags you liked best, so I might try to

Guest #1: Tetsu (formally Jupiter) is a male Beldum because I dislike refering to sapient beings as 'it'; in my fic, all genderless Pokemon are still male or female, based on their personality. It makes naming them and conveying their character easier.

_Other Guests_: I am so sorry this took so long to post.

-0o0o0-

**The Hero's Pokémon & Accomplishments:**

**Naruto Uzumaki**:

_Team Members_: Kubo (Froakie, male, Starter), Sora (Bagon, male)

_Badges & Awards_: None

**Sasuke Uchiha**:

_Team Members_: Bayushi (Eevee, male, Shiny), Togashi (Charmander, male, Starter), Akodo (Shinx, male)

_Badges & Awards_: None

**Sakura Haruno**:

_Team Members_: Ochako (Chikorita, female, Starter), Tetsu (Beldum, male*)

_Note__: Tetsu was originally named Jupiter, but that has been retconned._

_Badges & Awards_: None

Hinata Hyuga:

_Team Members_: Kikyo (Ralts, female, Shiny, Starter)

_Badges & Awards_: None

**-0o0o0-**

Pokémon: Konoha Region

Chapter 4

A Girl, a Dog Trainer, and 3 Bandits Walk into a Forest…

"Audino, use Heal Pulse," Nurse Joy said.

Sora was on the examination table, leaning forward while the nurse's Audino used Heal Pulse on his damaged skull ridge. In a minute, the hairline crack disappeared. The Audino smiled, patting Sora on the head. "Audino!" she cheered.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief. "Is that everything?"

The nurse nodded. "Eeyep, that should do it. However, we'll just do a quick scan to make sure everything's fine."

"Thank you, Nurse Joy," Naruto said.

A few minutes later, Naruto returned to his friends in the waiting room, holding his Bagon in hand. "Thanks again!" the boy called over his shoulder.

"Don't mention it!" Nurse Joy responded, smiling.

Naruto and his friends were in the Sprout Town Pokémon Center, having exited River Scar Valley after traveling through it for two days. Since they became a team, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura hadn't caught any new Pokémon or fought any major battle. In truth, between Akodo and Sora's injuries, they'd actually been taking it easy.

Naruto sat down, letting Sora jump down on the ground and play with the other Pokémon that were out. Sakura was sitting peacefully, alternating between sorting through her bag's supplies, tending to her egg, or trying to make idle chatter with Sasuke. For his part, Sasuke mostly grunted as he looked off in the distance thoughtfully. In his lap, Sasuke absentmindedly stroked Akodo, who was curled up and sleeping peacefully. The Shinx still had a prominent scar across his eye- the center's staff could only heal the damage and not undo the scar itself at this point. Still, at least there had been no serious damage to Akodo's eye.

Bayushi purred and stretched, winding between Sasuke's feet, trying to get his trainer's attention, apparently wanting Akodo's spot. If Sasuke noticed, he was ignoring the Eevee's behavior. Scoffing, Bayushi turned and walked over to Sakura, hopping up into her lap without warning. She gasped, dropping her bag, but quickly fell under Bayushi's charm before she could scold him.

On the floor, Togashi, Ochako, and Kubo sat across from one another, playing some sort of game, while Tetsu floated at Sora's eyelevel, the two apparently having a staring contest. Without warning, Sora brought his head forward, bonking Tetsu's metal face. The Beldum let out a metallic gasp, and then paused. A moment later, the two Pokémon bonked heads again, creating a sound not unlike a metal drum. They giggled, and did it again…and again, and again, and again.

"Ha, trying to make a song?" Naruto asked playfully. Sora turned to his trainer and gave him a thumbs up before turning back to Tetsu. The Bagon held up his hands, counting three, and the two bonked heads three times in rapid succession.

"Should he really be doing that?" Sakura asked. "He just had his skullcap fixed!"

Naruto shrugged. "Nah, Nurse Joy said that his head was as good as new, and he could start jumping off cliffs and crashing his head as much as his heart desired…that's what Bagon do for fun," he added upon noticing Sakura's confused look.

"Isn't that a little strange?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

"Not really," Naruto said. "I mean, they really want to fly, so-"

Sasuke cut him off. "Not your Dragon's suicidal tendencies, I mean Nurse Joy. Isn't it weird how she's exactly the same as the Nurse Joy back in Oakcrown City? The same name, same appearance, same job…"

"It's a little weird," Sakura admitted. "But the Joys are a big family, and the Pokémon nursing tradition runs in their family for generations. I've met four of them. I know they all look alike, but that's mostly because they wear similar uniforms; if you look closely, you'll notice differences."

Naruto scoffed. "A family of all women who all have the same hair, eyes, face shape, and profession? I don't believe it. My mom says they're really the result of the government experimenting with human cloning!"

"You watch too much science fiction," Sakura said dismissively.

"Yeah," Sasuke added. "Everyone knows the Joy are all Ditto."

Sakura and Naruto looked at him.

"It's true! My father told me! See, they're training them so that they'll have an army of shapeshifting spies. They first have the Ditto mimic nurses to get used to it; it's easy because they just have to do the same job every day, say the same phrases like 'Welcome to our Pokémon Center' or 'We hope to see you again!', so that the Ditto can master mimicking human speech and behavior before getting the rest of their training as spies."

Naruto looked at Sasuke carefully. "So…you're saying, if I threw a Pokéball at one, they'd be caught?"

Sasuke scoffed. "No. You can't catch someone else's Pokémon. They're all already owned by _**them**_!"

"Who's **'**_**them'**_?" Sakura asked, finger-quoting the word. "A secret branch of the government?"

"No, the people behind the scenes, who are trying to take over," Sasuke said, his eyes almost wild. "My Dad says they don't have an official name, but he's making a list of people he thinks are part of them-" He finally noticed that Sakura and Naruto were looking at him like he was crazy. "…never mind."

"Yeah, uh, let's just get going," Sakura said, suddenly getting up.

Grumbling, Sasuke decided to avoid conversations with his traveling companions for a while (at least until they stopped looking at him like he was crazy) and recalled his Pokémon with Naruto. Picking up Bayushi (with Sakura holding Ochako), Sasuke and the others headed for the door. However, as they were about to step out, Sasuke held up three fingers, counting: 3, 2, 1-

"We hope to see you again!" Nurse Joy called as they exited.

Sasuke gave his friends a knowing look, and Naruto couldn't help but notice how automatic and soulless the phrase sounded. The two boys paused, looking over at Sakura.

"You're both idiots!" she huffed, rolling her eyes and stomping away.

**-0o0o0-**

Back in the Pokécenter, a dark-haired girl sitting off in a corner sighed, setting down the book she had been using to hide her face. Hinata was not sure why she had gone to the trouble of hiding from Naruto and the others…but after what happened at the river, she was too embarrassed to face them!

The Nurse Joy up front called her name, shaking Hinata from her thoughts. She went over to the counter and retrieved her Shiny Ralts, Kikyo.

"Your Pokémon are as good as new!" Nurse Joy said. She bowed her head. "We hope to see you again soon!" It really did seem like she spoke in stock phrases, Hinata noted, having overhead Sasuke's…_unusual_ theory regarding the Joy family.

"Ralts?" Kikyo asked, sending Hinata a telepathic message. _…Rose pink embarrassment, and the tertiary colors of conflict... _she noted, in her usual way of speaking of emotions like colors. _…Is something wrong?..._

"Uh, yes and no, I guess," Hinata sighed, letting Kikyo ride on her backpack as the two made their way out of the Center. "Sometimes…sometimes, I wish I wasn't so shy."

_…If you weren't you, who would be?..._ Kikyo asked, noting her swirling emotions taking on the dark shade of doubt. _…Mama says what we see as flaws really define our best qualities…_, though in truth, the young Ralts was not sure what that meant. It just sounded helpful.

"I saw Naruto and his friends just now. I-I was too shy to say hello," Hinata admitted. "I-I was afraid they might recognize me from the river, and then I'd have to explain what happened!" She shuttered.

"Ral…" Kikyo sighed, noticing the swirling emotions her trainer was feeling. Yellow happiness, the true blue of friendship, tended with grey loneliness, and much more, but all soon squashed with a whitewash of worry and fear.

_…It is not fun being embarrassed…_, Kikyo admitted. _…I do not like feeling it...but it might be nice to make new friends, and share their colors…Lots of colors, like a kaleidoscope…_

Hinata looked over her shoulder at her Pokémon, giving her an appreciative smile. Unfortunately, this meant she was not looking as she turned a corner, and Hinata ended up bumping into someone and getting knocked over.

"Ofph! I'm sorry," Hinata quickly said, "I wasn't looking where I was-"

To her shock and surprise, the person she ran into quickly grabbed her hand and helped her up, rapidly apologizing himself.

"Oh, man, so sorry! That was all my fault, Hinata!"

Hearing her name, the girl backed up and looked at the boy; it was Kiba Inuzuka, a wild-looking boy with messy brown hair and red fang marks beneath his dark eyes. He had gone to the same school as Hinata. And nearby was Akamaru, his pet Growlithe, who yipped happily at Hinata.

"K-Kiba!" Hinata gasped, jumping back a little. Undaunted, Kiba picked up Kikyo and handed her to her trainer.

"Yeah, I'm surprised to see you too!" Kiba said, flashing a big toothy grin that showed off his sharp, canine-like teeth. "I thought you'd be off doing Aura Guardian training or something."

Hinata gave him an awkward smile, settling down now that the shock had worn off. The Aura Guardians was a loose origination of Aura users in the Konoha Region. For the most part, people who could manipulate Aura, or life energy, were very rare. For the Hyuga family, however, Aura users were very common. All members of the Main House were trained as Guardians- even Hinata, who was a fairly weak Aura user by Hyuga standards, had received basic training in Aura arts. In fact, ever since she was 10, she had to skip many classes in Pokémon school so she could train with her father and tutors…something that had made Hinata, an already a shy girl, become invisible to most of her classmates.

Breaking away from her thoughts, Hinata shook her head. "N-No! Most Aura Guardians don't start their professional training until 16; they're expected to go on Pokémon Journeys and strengthen themselves and their teams until then."

"Cool!" Kiba responded, looking oddly pleased with the news.

Kikyo noticed a passionate swirl of red and pink in him, but it felt so embarrassing to her that she decided not to tell Hinata.

An awkward silence hung in the air for a few seconds. Finally, Kiba broke it.

"So, uh, since you're here, and not off training like I thought, I was just thinking," he began, scratching the back of his head. "Er, I mean, uh…" Growling, the boy looked away, his face flustered as he tried to find the right words. Steeling himself, Kiba abruptly turned to Hinata and blurted out, "Would you like to go out!?"

Hinata stood frozen in place, eyes wide with shock.

After a second, Kiba grimaced. "Uh, I mean- sorry, that totally came out wrong! I meant to ask, 'would you like to _**hang **_out?' I mean, the two of us...hanging out...together...like friends- since that's what we are, and that's what friends do!" he added awkwardly. His confident persona quickly deflated as the boy stumbled on. "I mean like...we could totally start traveling together- since we're both here on our Pokémon Journey. I mean, it's safer to travel in groups...if you want to, that is!" Kiba sighed, feeling his face turn bright red. Next to him, Akamaru had put his face in his paw, shaking his head.

Hinata gave him a kind smile, and was about to say something, only for Kiba to suddenly speak up.

"Uh, shoot, I just remembered I gotta go walk Akamaru! Nice seeing you, Hinata! Bye!" And with that, Kiba grabbed Akamaru and ran off.

Shocked again, Hinata just stood there for a moment.

_...Pink and yellow embarrassment...Flustering emotions...that was strange… _Kikyo mused.

Hinata sighed gently. "Kiba was embarrassed; I get very flustered when I get mixed up when talking. It must be very embarrassing for someone confident like him." She paused. "He didn't mean any harm...maybe I should have said something."

_...Maybe it would be nice to travel with a friend?..._ Kikyo suggested.

"...maybe," Hinata admitted.

After a few minutes of quiet pondering, Hinata spoke again. "Come on, let's go for a walk."

**-0o0o0-**

"It's only three hours until nightfall. I think we should stay in town for the night and start out first thing in the morning," Sakura suggested, as the three of them stood together in the town square. They had done some quick resupplying and were deciding what to do next.

"Fine," Sasuke said, somewhat reluctantly. He would have just preferred traveling and camping in the woods, but it wasn't likely they'd get far in three hours anyway; no point in arguing with the others over it. "If we're staying near a Pokécenter, we might as well make use of it. Let's get some battles in."

"Yeah!" Naruto cheered, pulling out a Pokéball.

Sakura rolled her eyes; why was it that Pokémon battles were the only thing boys ever thought about? Naruto and Sasuke had mock battles at least once a day since Sakura started traveling with them…which, considering it had been only three days, might not be saying much now that she thought about it.

She was pulled from her thoughts when a boy their age walked up to them. "Hey, did I hear someone mention wanting a Pokémon battle?"

"Yes," Sasuke answered, looking calm but interested.

"Well, would you like to battle me?" the boy asked eagerly. "I just started my journey and I haven't had an official battle yet. I really want one!"

"Hmm, sure," Sasuke replied, before anyone could stop him. "Three against three. You can do that?"

"S-sure!" the boy replied nervously.

"Hey, what about me?" Naruto protested.

"I could beat you any day. It's good to fight against as many different opponents as possible," Sasuke said plainly.

"No, I meant why don't I fight him? I wanted to battle, too," Naruto exclaimed. He quickly added, "And who says you'd beat me?!"

Sasuke scoffed. "He has three Pokémon, I have three Pokémon. You have only two."

Before they could continue arguing, Sakura pointed out that they'd need to be sure they were on the outskirts of town. Battles in residential areas were strictly forbidden.

**-0o0o0-**

"Hmm, there's something you don't see every day: a white Eevee."

The speaker was a brown-haired youth in his mid-teens, with an eyepatch over his right eye, an ugly burn scar extending from above it down to his chin. The boy was sitting outside at a table, enjoying a meal with his two companions. One was a youth with messy black hair and beady eyes, and the other was a dark-eyed girl with black hair that fell down to the floor.

Dosu, the eyepatch boy, pointed at Sasuke, who had Bayushi riding on his shoulder.

"Oooh, a Shiny Eevee!" the girl, named Kin, cooed. "Eevee are pretty rare as is! A Shiny's extra special!"

"Not to mention, the Boss has a thing for white Pokémon," said Zaku, the last member of the trio. "Let's get it!"

Kin nodded eagerly, but Dosu shook his head.

"Don't be stupid. The kid's not alone." Dosu pointed at Naruto, Sakura, and the other boy they were walking with. "Right now, they outnumber us- if we try to mug him now, we're just asking to get caught." He scoffed, picked up a sugar cube from a cup on the table, and held it up to the Chatot on his shoulder.

"Don't be stupid," Echoes the Chatot parroted, snatching the sugar cube with glee.

Kin and Zaku glared. "So, what do you suggest?" Zaku asked.

"Hmm, from the looks of it, they're going off to have a battle," Dosu said thoughtfully. "We'll follow from a safe distance, and strike when the opportunity presents itself."

-**0o0o0**-

_A little while later, just outside of Sprout Town…_

**-0o0o0-**

"O-okay, I'm ready!" the boy said nervously, pulling out a Pokéball. "My name is Toru, of Oakcrown City, and I challenge you to a three vs. three match!" He tossed the Pokéball containing a Rattata. "Whiskers, I choose you!"

Sasuke smirked. "Bayushi, you're up," he said. His Eevee jumped onto the makeshift battlefield, arching his back and growling.

"Sasuke, you're supposed to introduce yourself! It's good etiquette," Sakura pointed out.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Sasuke Uchiha, of Oakcrown City," he said, taking no notice of how his opponent's eyes widened. The Uchiha family was quite famous, after all. "Now...begin!" With that, he ordered Bayushi to start things off with Take Down.

"You can do it, Sasuke!" Sakura squealed, posing with her arms held up like a cheerleader.

From the sidelines next to her, Naruto watched the battle glumly, arms crossed.

Sakura noticed. "Don't be bitter because Toru wanted to battle Sasuke and not you. It's not mature to sulk."

Naruto scoffed. "He didn't want to battle Sasuke. Sasuke wanted to battle him. He'd have been happy battling me!"

Sakura said something, but Naruto barely heard her. Out of the corner of his eye, he had seen something move around in the nearby bushes. Turning, Naruto was able to catch a glimpse of a grey tail disappearing into the underbrush before he could even pull out his Pokédex.

"Did you see that?" Naruto gasped.

"Shush!" Sakura hissed, apparently enthralled by the battle.

Bayushi had the Rattata on the ropes already. He landed one last tackle, and the Rattata was out. Sakura gave another girly cheer.

Rolling his eyes, Naruto ran off after whatever had disappeared in the underbrush.

"You did good Whiskers, don't you worry," Toru said, recalling his Pokémon and pulling out a new one. "We'll avenge your honor! Shelly, you're up!"

His Pokémon appeared in a flash; it was a Squirtle.

"Bayushi return," Sasuke said, pulling out a new Pokéball and tossing it. "Akodo, go."

**-0o0o0-**

"Where'd you go?" Naruto asked, talking to no one in particular as he crashed through the underbrush. As if to answer him, a figure jumped out in front of him, growling and doing its best to look intimidating.

Naruto, however, had a different reaction. "Ahh, it's a Poochyena, how cute!" he said, pulling out his Pokédex.

"Poochyena, the Bite Pokémon," it pinged. "At first sight, Poochyena will bite at anything that moves and chase after any prey that flees it. However, Poochyena are naturally cowardly, and will turn tail and flee anything that strikes back."

However, by the time the Pokédex had finished mentioning 'will bite anything that moves', the Poochyena jumped forward and bit Naruto's hand so hard it drew blood.

"MOTHER _F$&K&!_" Naruto screamed, flinging his arm wildly in an attempt to detach the biting Poochyena. He hit it against a tree, causing the Poochyena to let go and land roughly on the ground. Yelping, the Poochyena scrambled up and fled with its tail between its legs.

"Get back here you little coward and fight like a man!" Naruto shouted, picking up his Pokédex and running after the fleeing Pokémon.

**-0o0o0-**

"What was that?" Sakura gasped, hearing a loud shout of pain. She turned around to ask Naruto, but he wasn't there! "What- Sasuke, Naruto's missing!"

"I'm kind of busy!" Sasuke growled.

On the battlefield, Sasuke had sent out Togashi, who was now battling Toru's Bellsprout. The Bellsprout had caught Togashi in its vines with a Wrap attack, and was slowly squeezing down. Growling, Togashi breathed out a cloud of sparks with Ember right into the Bellsprout's face. Gasping, it staggered back, loosening its vines just enough for Togashi to break free. Wasting no time, the Charmander followed up with a second Ember attack before closing in and finishing his foe with a Scratch to the face.

"Oh, Beans!" Toru cried, rushing to his Pokémon's side.

Togashi laughed and started to spin in place, only to notice how somber Sasuke was. The Charmander quickly stopped and crossed his arms, nodding stoically at its opponent.

"Thanks for the battle-" Toru started.

Sasuke, however, wasn't paying attention anymore. Walking up to Sakura, he asked, "Now, what did you want?"

**-0o0o0-**

The Poochyena jumped out of the underbrush as quickly as his little legs could carry him. A moment later, the bushes exploded as Naruto tore out of them, raising a Pokéball. "Get back here!" He threw it, but missed the Poochyena.

The Bite Pokémon whimpered, suddenly turning out of sight behind some shrubbery. Naruto swore, skidding across the dirt as he attempted to turn after his target. He spotted the Poocheyna take another turn out of sight- the distance between them was growing.

"You're not getting away!" Naruto growled, running as fast as he could.

Much to his surprise, the Poochyena suddenly turned around and was running back in his direction, yipping in fright.

"What-?!"

A Pokéball flew in from the direction it was fleeing, hitting the Poochyena and absorbing it. After a single ping, it locked.

"Alright, I caught it!" said a gruff voice Naruto recognized. Kiba Inuzuka ran onto the scene, gleefully scooping the Pokéball up. "And with one try too! Man, am I awesome or what, Akamaru?" Kiba smiled and turned to his Growlithe companion, who barked happily. He turned, noticing Naruto for the first time. "Hey, Naruto! What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" Naruto said angrily. "And more importantly, why are you stealing _**my**_ Pokémon?!" He pointed angrily at the Pokéball Kiba was holding.

"What do you mean, 'stealing your Pokémon?' I caught this pup fair and square!" Kiba snapped back.

"I was after him first!"

"Yeah, and if you'd had caught him first, he wouldn't have run right into me." Kiba tossed the ball up and caught it. "You had your chance, and now he's mine!"

Naruto's face got red. He puffed up his chest and pushed it against Kiba's. "You filthy-"

"Hey, stop it!" a feminine voice said from behind the two of them. Sakura walked onto the scene, followed by Sasuke.

"Oh, hey guys," Kiba said, recognizing both of them from his class.

"Yo," Sasuke said simply, crossing his arms.

"What in blue blazes is going on here?" Sakura said, stepping between the two boys and pushing them apart.

"He stole my Poochyena!" Naruto protested.

"I caught him fair and square!" Kiba retorted.

"Can you two stop fighting for one second?" Sakura said. She glared at both boys. "Now, is this really worth fighting over? Naruto, why were you even chasing that Poochyena anyway?"

Naruto glared, but slowly, as he mulled it over, his face softened. "I was chasing him…because he bit me, and I wanted to throttle the little bastard." He growled and rolled his eyes. "Keep him, Kiba. I didn't really want to catch him anyway."

"Thanks," Kiba said smugly. "Not that it matters; I caught him fair and square, and if you had anything to say about it, I would have crushed you anyway.

"You wish!" Naruto said, half playfully and half challengingly.

"What to test that?" Kiba asked eagerly.

A grin cracked across Naruto's face.

**-0o0o0-**

"I don't understand boys," Sakura said.

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kiba were back in the clearing near town, where Sasuke had battled the kid from earlier. Only now, it was Naruto and Kiba's turn.

"How does two vs. two sound?" Kiba asked.

"Great!" Naruto responded. He pulled out Kubo's orange-topped Pokéball. "And to start with, Kubo, I choose you!"

Kiba eyed the Bubble Frog Pokémon, having never seen one before. "Hmm, I bet that's a Water-type," he said slowly, pulling out a Pokéball. "In that case, I'll send out Bolt first!"

The Pokémon that materialized looked like an adorable yellow corgi puppy. "Yam-yam!" he barked happily, panting.

"Oh, how cute!" Sakura said from the sidelines, pulling out her Pokédex.

"Yamper, a Puppy Pokémon," it chimed. "Yamper are popular herding dogs that generate electricity in the base of their tails as they run. They are also gluttonous Pokémon that are motivated primarily by food."

"An Electric-type against a Water-type," Sasuke mused quietly. "Huh, Naruto should have sent out his Pokémon the same time Kiba did.

On the battlefield, Naruto sized up his opponent. "Type advantage isn't everything!" he said defiantly.

"But it is a lot," Kiba countered. "Bolt, use Spark!"

The Yamper rushed forward, electricity building from his hindquarters and traveling all across his body.

"Kubo, Bubble his face, then Lick-out! Just like we practiced," Naruto countered.

The Froakie grabbed a handful of his sticky bubble mane and flung it right in-between Bolt's eyes. As the Yamper reeled in shock, Kubo shot out his tongue to grab hold of a low branch up above. Before Bolt could realize what happened, Kubo had swung across the battlefield, throwing another Bubble Attack at his hindquarters.

"No bad," Sakura commented, watching as Kubo jumped and used his tongue as a grappling hook again, once again avoiding Bold's attack before throwing another Bubble in his face.

"Alright Kubo, finish him off with Lick!" Naruto ordered.

Kubo shot out his tongue, wrapping it around the Yamper's neck and tightening.

"Bolt, counter with Nuzzle," Kiba said.

"Yamp!" Bolt snarled, wiggling his butt. A charge of electricity flowed from it up to his face, and then up Kubo's tongue.

The Froakie released his grip on Bolt, wheeling backwards in pain as the shock inflicted the Paralysis condition.

"Alright, now follow up with Spark!" Kiba ordered.

Bolt charged towards Kubo; Naruto shouted for Kubo to dodge, but his reflexes were too slow to respond.

"Yamp!" Bolt cried, slamming Kubo to the floor. The Froakie struggled for a second, and dropped unconscious.

"Darn it," Naruto sighed, recalling his Pokémon. He looked at Kubo's Pokéball. "I'm sorry buddy. I should have known better than to try something like that against an Electric-type."

"Yeah, you really should have," Sakura whispered.

Sasuke shushed her.

"Good job, Bolt," Kiba said from across the field to his Yamper, who barked back happily. Kiba looked over at Naruto. "Send out your second Pokémon."

Naruto nodded, pulling a ball from his belt. "Okay, Sora, this is your first battle, so give it your all!"

**-0o0o0-**

Humming gently to herself, Hinata walked along the woodland path, Kikyo riding along in her backpack. It was a pleasant late afternoon, and Hinata was beginning to forget about her worries for the day.

Something in the underbrush snapped, pulling Hinata out of her daydreaming. Gasping, she turned towards the sound. There was nothing, but Hinata felt uneasy- as if someone or something was watching her.

"Kikiyo, did you hear that?" she asked, looking about vigilantly.

"Ralts," Kikyo responded; the Psychic-type reached outward, scanning all around for a mind nearby. She picked up nothing, and turned to Hinata, shaking her head.

Hinata sighed, relaxing a little. "I-It must have been my imagination-!" A shadow had loomed in the corner of her eye for a brief moment. She turned, but it was gone. It was then that Hinata noticed that there was no ambient noise in the forest anymore. No birds singing, no wild Pokémon chittering or moving about. An eerie silence hung in the air.

Gulping loudly, Hinata started to back away, eyes ever alert. "K-Kikyo, I-I think maybe we should get back to the Pokécenter."

The Ralts nodded, but Hinata had already turned and started walking swiftly away, carrying Kikyo, repeatedly checking over her shoulders, half-expecting something to be there. She broke out into a run.

After the girl and her Ralts vanished from sight, a horned creature with red eyes stepped out of the shadows, watching them with a solemn, thoughtful expression.

**-0o0o0-**

"Sora, use Headbutt!" Naruto ordered. His Bagon rushed forward, slamming into Bolt head-first with a telling blow. The Yamper rolled backwards, wincing before giving up and falling down, knocked out.

"Alright! You won your first battle!" Naruto cheered, running over and giving Sora a hug.

Across the field, Kiba grumbled to himself, returning Bolt. He turned to Akamaru. "Okay, buddy, go and wipe that smile off his face!"

Akamaru yipped happily and onto the battlefield. "Growlithe!" he barked, rearing up on his hindlegs before slamming down, releasing a wave of shadowy, black energy. The wave rushed over Sora, causing him to suddenly get wobbly in the knees for a second.

"Hey, no fair attacking before the match starts!" Naruto shouted, pointing accusingly at Kiba.

"We didn't!" Kiba said defensively. "That's just Akamaru's _Intimidate_ Ability, you idiot! It lowers the Attack power of the enemy when Akamaru enters the battlefield!"

"…oh," Naruto said. "You know, that's actually pretty cool."

"I know! It even extends to all nearby enemy Pokémon in a multi-battle!" Kiba said excitedly.

"Well, if Attack is lower, we'll just use Special moves; Sora, use Dragon Rage."

**-0o0o0-**

Hinata paused to catch her breath, looking over her shoulders. It no longer looked frightening, and the sounds of the forest had returned. Now, she was starting to feel foolish.

"Kikyo…What are we even running from?" Hinata said slowly, looking at her Ralts, still riding in her backpack.

"Ralts, ral!" Kikyo responded, somewhat embarrassed.

"That's silly," Hinata said. "There's no one there. It was just our imaginations getting the better of us." She motioned around at the empty forest surrounding them. "There's no one watching-"

There was a loud snapping sound, as if made by a large animal stepping on a branch.

Hinata gasped, spinning around, but Kikyo acted first, grabbing hold of her trainer and calling upon her Psychic power. In an instant, they blinked out in a flash of light, Teleported away by the panicking Ralts.

**-0o0o0-**

Akamaru dove to the side, evading the Dragon Rage attack, which hit a tree and exploded violently.

"Grr, counter with Flamethrower!" Kiba shouted.

"Fight fire with fire! Dragon Rage again!" Naruto responded.

Sora and Akamaru started charging their attacks-

-when the battlefield between them suddenly distorted. A flash of light, and then a girl appeared out of thin air, right between the two attacking Pokémon! Kiba's eyes widened, recognizing Hinata.

"What the-?!" Naruto shouted, dumbfounded. He realized Sora was still in the middle of an attack. "SORA, STOP!" he shouted.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Kiba screamed desperately at Akamaru.

Even as they gave the order, however, both Pokémon were already launching their attacks. Sora tried veering the attack away at the last second, while Akamaru shut his mouth and turned away, choking on his own flames.

Even so, a small wave of fire came at Hinata from one direction, and a ball of Dragon-type energy from the other; panicking, she raised up her hands to shield her from the flames, while everyone else could only watch in horror.

From Hinata's back, Kikyo desperately grabbed ahold of her trainer; she was still disoriented from Teleporting them both, but it was her trainer's only chance!

The flames licked Hinata's hands. Even so, the air around her rippled, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone!

Sora's attack, however, was still flying forward. The Dragon Rage ball flew through the fading puff of flames right into Akamaru, who was doubled over and coughing from swallowing his Flamethrower attack. The explosive ball hit the poor Growlithe with full force, blasting him backwards into his equally unprepared trainer and lifting him off his feet. Both slammed into a tree and fell down, unmoving.

"...WHAT THE HOUNDOOM WAS THAT?!" Naruto screamed, looking around wildly. "What happened!?"

"Be quiet," Sasuke said coldly, doing his best to remain stoic. "I think that was a girl Teleporting into the middle of our battlefield."

"Yeah, but- but-" Sakura said helplessly, pointing at where Hinata had been. "It all happened so fast!" she finally managed.

"Hey Sakura, I need your help!" Naruto said. Having overcome his initial confusion, Naruto had the sense to check on Kiba and Akamaru.

"Right!" Sakura gasped, scooping up Ochako and running over.

**-0o0o0-**

Dosu set down the binoculars he had been using to watch Sasuke and the others, looking rather satisfied. He turned to his companions, who had been watching the battle as well. "See," he said smugly, "I told you it was smart to wait and watch." Dosu's face was now covered in a mask of bandages; besides him, Zaku wore a scarf that covered the lower half of his face, while Kin wore a domino mask. After all, they had to protect their identities when on the job!

"I still don't get what happened," Zaku said, looking confused. "One second, they're fighting, and the next- kaboom! Everyone's panicking. What gives?"

"Their attacks collided and caused a huge explosion, idiot!" Kin hissed.

"No, you fools, someone Teleported right in the middle of the battle" Dosu snapped, shoving them both. On his shoulder, his Chatot parroted Dosu's words, but everyone ignored him. "Just as they were getting ready to attack, and then she Teleported again! It all happened in a second!"

"Talk about fate! What are the odds of that happening?" Zaku said, looking rather pleased. "So... you think this is a good time to swoop in and grab the emo-twerp's Shiny Eevee?" he asked tentatively.

"Nah, I got a better idea," Dosu said. "We're going after the girl, first. Then we'll take care of the emo-twerp."

"What's so special about her?" Kin asked, looking indigent.

Dosu smiled behind his bandage-mask, a glint in his eye. "She had a Ralts with her- that's what was teleporting her. And even though I only say it for a second, I noticed it had _**blue **_hair!"

Zaku and Kin both gasped. "Oooh, a Shiny!" Kin whispered.

"Two of 'em in one day!" Zaku added excitedly.

"Yeah, and considering it had to Teleport its master twice in rapid succession, I'll bet it's exhausted," Dosu pointed out. "We'll track her down now, before she has a chance to recover." He lifted his binoculars and checked on the twerps. "And by the looks of it, emo-twerp and the others are getting ready to spread out and try to find her. We can use this to our advantage."

"First we get the girl, then we take out the twerps," Zaku concluded. "But how are we gonna find her first?"

Dosu looked over at Kin and nodded. The girl smiled, pulling out a Pokéball; it had a steel top with a musical note etched on it. "Bijou, come on out!"

Kin's Pokémon materialized, a cobalt blue metal Pokémon that looked to be a bronze mirror.

"Brrng!" the Bronzor chimed in a light, feminine tone.

"When a Pokémon Teleports, it leaves behind a trace of energy," Kin explained. "A trace that Psychic-types can follow."

**-0o0o0-**

"Okay, it looks like he's fine. Just stunned," Sakura announced, rising to her feet and looking at the unconscious Kiba. Nearby, Ochako patted the equally unconscious Akamaru on the head with her leaf, satisfied that he was likely unharmed. "I think it's safe for us to move him."

By that, she meant it was safe for Sasuke and Naurto to move him, of course. The two of them complied, propping him against a tree and setting Akamaru right beside him.

"Okay, but what are we going to do about that girl?" Naruto asked. "I mean, she could have been hurt or-" He gasped, eyes going wide.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

"That girl…" Naruto said slowly, "she was the one that pulled me out of the river!"

"What? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's starting to come back to me!" Naruto said hurriedly. "Yeah, I remember her and her blue Ralts!"

"She had a Ralts?" Sakura asked.

"You didn't notice?" Sasuke asked skeptically.

"Well, she was only there for a second!" Sakura replied defensively. She shook her head and turned back to Naruto. "Never mind, it's not important. We need to try and find her!"

Naruto nodded. "That's what I was going to say! Come on!"

"All of us? But what about Kiba?" Sakura asked, but Naruto was already running off into the woods.

"What about him?" Naruto called back. "You said he was fine; besides, it's not like he's going anywhere!"

"But-" she started, only to notice Sasuke was heading after Naruto. She huffed angrily to herself and followed. "Grr, stupid boys! They never listen to me!"

Ochako looked up at her trainer, not liking it when she was angry, but otherwise remained quiet and just jogged alongside her.

After walking about twenty yards, Sakura stopped. "Hey, wait a minute!" she shouted, suddenly struck with an idea.

Ahead of her, Naruto and Sasuke stopped and turned around. "What's wrong?" Naruto asked.

"Sasuke said that the girl had a Ralts with her, right? Then maybe we can track her down that way!" Sakura said.

"How?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura smiled. "Tsunade once mentioned that Teleportation leaves a Psychic residue that other Psychics can detect. And I just so happen to have a Psychic-type!" She held up Tetsu's Pokéball and called him out.

"Good idea!" Naruto cheered.

Next to him, Sasuke looked less impressed.

Sakura, however, paid that no mind. "Okay Tetsu, we need you to track down the Pokémon that just Teleported!"

For a few seconds, Tetsu just stared at her silently.

"…I think they have to specifically trained to track Psychic-types," Sasuke said skeptically.

"Uh, you _**do**_ know how to do that, right Tetsu?" Sakura asked nervously. Next to her, Ochako nodded in agreement.

Once again, her Beldum just stared at her blankly. Then, he turned and started floating off in a direction. "Brrrm" Tetsu intoned, motioning for them to follow.

"Ha! See? I told you it would work!" Sakura shouted, running after him, with Naruto right next to her.

Sighing, Sasuke glanced over at Bayushi. "Let's hope this works."

At the front of the group, Tetsu floated along blankly. He wasn't sure what Sakura had asked of him. Beldum as a species have very weak Psychic powers; there's barely anything they can do outside of manipulate and detect magnetic fields. However, he had just sensed notable magnetic field being generated nearby, and it was moving. Perhaps it was a Pokémon of some sort? Whatever it was, Tetsu had hoped it was somehow related to what Sakura was talking about. He didn't want to disappoint her, even if he didn't understand her sometimes.

**-0o0o0-**

"Ouch," Hinata sighed, looking at her hands. Luckily, she had been able to draw upon her Aura powers to creative a protective field around herself before the flames hit, but she hadn't been able to make the shield perfect- her palms were singed with light burns. She sighed, noting that she was lucky this was all that happened to her.

Nearby, poor Kikyo was laying down, nearly unconscious. For a young and untrained Pokemon to Teleport themselves and their trainer once in a single day was taxing, but to do it twice in the span of a few seconds would be stressful even to an experienced Pokémon. Hinata looked over at her little Ralts with affection and pride.

_…Sorry…my fault…_ Kikyo said sadly, having repeated the message over and over.

"It was an accident. It is no one's fault," Hinata said softly, reaching over and stroking Kikyo's head. She let soothing Aura flow out from her hand, ignoring the stinging sensation caused by her burns. The energy spread from Hinata to Kikyo, causing the Pokémon to go still and fall into peaceful sleep. Smiling to herself, Hinata looked at her hands. She might not have been up to her family's standards with Aura use, but even she knew a few useful tricks. Hinata pulled out Kikyo's Cherish Ball and recalled her. With Kikyo taken care of, Hinata wet about tending to her own injuries, pulling out her first aid kit and doctoring her hands. Some burn ointment and bandages wrapped around her palms and fingers helped lessen the pain greatly, but it'd still be best to get professional healing at the center. "I suppose now I should just head back to the Pokécenter and get some rest…as soon as I figure out where I am."

She took out her Pokénav, checking its map.

"Hmm, if that way is north, that means Sprout Town should somewhere that way," she mused aloud. Humming to herself, Hinata headed off.

After a few minutes however, she stopped, looking over her shoulder. She didn't know why, but once again, Hinata had the unshakable feeling that she was being watched. She froze, gulping her breath and looking around slowly. There was nothing out of the ordinary, except one again the forest had gone eerily silent. Hinata's hand drifted unconsciously down to her belt, brushing against Kikyo's ball- but she was in no position to fight, even if there was trouble.

A feeling of helplessness started to creep through Hinata, causing her to shiver. Unable to help herself, the girl started to whip around in all directions, her breath becoming short and panicked. Before it became worse, Hinata steeled herself, slapping her cheeks. "Ugh!" she grunted, running off towards town, willing herself to ignore everything else.

Once again, a horned creature loomed in the shadows, watching her retreating form. The creature sighed, its eyes flashing red with arcane knowledge. Growling, it flashed away in the darkness.

After running for about 50 yards, Hinata started to slow down, glancing over her shoulder. There was nothing there.

"It's all in my head," she said quietly, glowering to herself. She slowed down some more. "There's nothing there- aah!"

An unseen force grabbed hold of her, lifting Hinata into the air.

"What- What's going on?!"

A chorus of cruel laughter rang out as three masked figures emerged from the bushes, with a Bronzor floating among them, aglow as it held onto Hinata with Confusion.

"Well, well, look what you've gone and caught, Bijou," Kin said, letting out a haughty, dramatic laugh. Her Bronzor let out a metallic giggle at her trainer's praise.

"Yeah, looks to me like a little girl with a rare Pokémon," Zaku said, walking up to Hinata with a smirk. He sized the floating girl up, noticing that her Ralts was out of sight. "Speaking of which, where did it go? It didn't run away, did it?"

"Let…me…go!" Hinata gasped, struggling in the Bronzor's telekinetic grip.

"Sorry girly; can't do that. We're Team Snake, after all, and we've got a reputation to keep up," Zaku said mockingly. "Just tell us where your Shiny Ralts is and we'll all be on our way-"

"Stop blabbing and just grab the Cherish Ball from her belt, you idiot!" Dosu snapped, pointing.

Zaku started to snap something in response. However, as soon as he was distracted, Hinata sprang into action. Bijou might have been holding her with Confusion, but that was an overall weak telekinetic move- especially for someone who's been taught how to draw strength from their Aura. Surging the power of her spirit, Hinata broke free from the Psychic-type grasp and slammed her palm into Zaku's gut, releasing a flood of aura. Striking him with her burnt hand might have hurt her, but it hurt Zaku more! He staggered backwards in surprise, gasping for air as he fell over. Behind him, Dosu and Kin jumped in surprise, not sure what happed; Bijou was so shocked that her concentration broke, releasing Hinata completely.

As soon as she fell to the ground, Hinata sprang up to her feet and ran as fast as she could, shouting for help.

"She's getting away!" Kin screamed, trying to run after her. However, she tripped over the prone Zaku, who had rolled onto his back trying to catch his breath.

"You idiots!" Dosu growled, sidestepping the tangled mess and pulling out a steel-topped Pokéball with a musical note carved in it. "I have to take care of everything myself!"

Suddenly, the earth before them exploded as huge pillars of rock pushed out of the group in a mighty Stone Edge attack.

Dosu shouted, jumping back in time to avoid being showered in stone shards, while Kin and Zaku had to do their best to shield their faces. Growling, Dosu whipped around, looking for their attacker. He spotted a four-legged figure in the shadows, eyes glowing red, but then he blinked at it was gone.

"What- what the Houndoom was that?!" Zaku stammered.

"Never mind that," Dosu growled, pulling Zaku up by his collar. "Just stop her before she gets away!"

"Grr! Nightwish, split the skies!" Zaku shouted, tossing a Pokéball (steel-topped with a musical note, of course).

Kin turned to her Bronzor while calling out a second Pokémon. "After her, Bijou! Killer Queen, back them up!"

Dosu had already tossed the Pokéball he had pulled out, and then motioned to his Chatot, which had flown into the air to avoid the Stone Edge. "Crush, Echoes, don't let her get away!"

Zaku's Nightwish turned out to be a Golbat, while Kin's Killer Queen was to be an especially mean-looking Steenee. And lastly, Dosu's Crush materialize; it was Thwackey that immediately pulled out the stick-clubs from its hair and beat them against his chest, showing off his unusually sharp teeth as he rallied the troops.

From above, Echoes swooped down, singing an ill-fitting, cheery tune as the army of thugs chased after the fleeing girl.

"_One way or another, I'm gonna find ya  
I'm gonna get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya  
One way or another, I'm gonna win ya  
I'm gonna get ya, get ya ,get ya, get ya" _

**-0o0o0-**

"Help! Somebody help me!"

Naruto gasped. "Hey, did you hear that?!"

Before Sasuke or Sakura could answer, however, something burst through the forest and ran right into Naruto, knocking them both over.

"Ouch-!" Naruto began, but then he noticed who had run into him. "Hey, it's you! We've been looking for you!"

Hinata, however, looked less than pleased to see him- actually, she looked outright panicked, flushed-faced and gasping. She was trying to speak, but she was too out of breath. "Please- please help-!" she managed between gasps.

"Easy there," Sakura said, gentling helping the other girl up. "Don't gulp. Take in steady, slow breaths. Now, what's wrong?"

Behind Naruto and Sakura, Sasuke growled, pointing. "I think we're about to find out."

The Sound Trio's Pokémon posy had caught up to them, Crush leading the charge. Letting out a terrible hiss, the Thwackey leapt off a tree branch towards Hinata, teeth bared and clubs raised.

Naruto started to move between Hinata and the attacking Pokémon, but Sasuke reacted first.

"Bayushi, Hidden Power!"

The Eevee leapt from his trainer's shoulder, conjuring a ring of sky-blue orbs around himself and launched it at the Thwackey, blasting the monkey to the ground. Bayushi landed on all fours, hissing with his fur on-end.

"I don't know what's going on, but it looks like trouble!" Naruto shouted, releasing both Kata and Sora. Behind him, Sasuke called out Akodo and Togashi, while Sakura ordered Ochako to join the fight.

The two groups of Pokémon face off against one another, each daring the other to make the first move. In the middle of it all, Sakura noticed Tetsu pointing directly at the Bronzor, following its movements as the Bronzor floated back and forth, like a compass. "Urh, don't tell me you were tracking that thing this whole time!" Sakura sighed quietly.

"Bel," Tetsu responded, in a tone that said 'duh'.

A trio of masked trainers followed the mass of Pokémon that had been chasing the dark-haired girl. Sasuke noticed they were all dressed in the uniforms of Team Snake, a notorious gang of Pokémon thieves.

Naruto didn't notice that, but he did notice Hinata gasp and shrink back at the sight of them. He glowered, stepping in front of her and shouting at the newcomers. "Hey, what the Houndoom do you think you're doing? Get lost, ya' masked freaks!"

"Careful Naruto," Sakura said, "look at their uniforms; those are Team Snake grunts."

"Grunts?!" the boy whose face was covered with a scarf spat, looking indignant. "We're no mere grunts, we're the Sound Trio, the pride of Team Snake's Boss!"

Next to him, the bandaged-faced boy stepped forth, pointing at Hinata and then Sasuke. "Enough of this! Hand over the Shiny Pokémon if you wanna live!"

Sasuke scoffed. "Yeah, like cliché threats have ever worked. Everyone, attack!"

All at once, the battlefield exploded.

Togashi rushed forward and fired a Flame Burst into Chrush's face, driving the Thwackey back further. He attempted to fire a second shot, only for Dosu's Chatot to swoop in and hit him with Chatter. The sonic attack not only damaged the Charmander, but Confused him, too. Togashi staggered wildly, breathing fire in random directions as the Chatter's noise reverberated through his skull.

"Damn, Togashi Return!" Sasuke said, recalling the Pokémon before he became a danger to the rest of them. Because of the safety limit on the Pokéball, he wouldn't be able to call Togashi out for about 30 seconds- if he did it sooner, he'd risk scrambling Togashi's atoms. That left him with Bayushi and Akodo.

"Hit them again, Echoes, and make it count!" Dosu shouted.

"_Make it count!'_" Echoes echoed, loosing a second Chatter right at Bayushi.

"Bayushi, Mimic!" Sasuke countered.

Bayushi took on a while glow and opened his mouth, releasing an identical sonic wave to Echoes'. The two attacks hit, canceling one another out.

"Good, now Akodo, go high and get him with Spark!" Sasuke said.

Growling, the Shinx leapt into action, climbing up a tree and jumping at Echoes. The electrified Akodo hit his mark, biting viciously as he brought it down. The victory was short-lived, though, as Crush jumped, slamming both his clubs into Akodo's face with Double Hit. Sasuke shouted for Bayushi to attack with Chatter again, only for Crush to counter it by throwing a club at Bayushi that hit him squarely in the throat.

"Heh, good shot," Dosu smirked.

Akodo attempted to help by tackling Crush with Spark, but the Grass-type was barely affected as he started beating down on the Shinx with his remaining club.

Meanwhile, Sakura squared off against Zaku and his Golbat, Nightwish.

"Hehe, a floating ball bearing and a daikon radish," Zaku smirked, looking from Tetsu to Ochako. "Hardly a match. Why don't you run along little girl, before you get hurt?"

"Sasuke was right," Sakura said in disgust, "You jerks really do like your clichés. Ochako, let's show him what we think of that; Razor Leaf!"

"Chi-ka!" the Chikorita cried, swinging her leaf and loosing the attack right at Nightwish.

Zaku just scoffed. "Is that your best shot? Whack it away Nightwish, then use Supersonic!"

The Golbat easily deflected the attack with his wing, and then loosed a horrible screech, firing a barrage of sound waves at both Ochako and Tetsu.

"Ochako, quickly, use Aromatherapy!" Sakura countered.

The Chikorita released the cloud of healing pollen just as the Supersonic hit; as Sakura predicted, the Aromatherapy worked instantly- just as quickly as the two were Confused, the effect lifted.

"Ooh, what an annoying little radish; Nightwish, take out the happy healer with Poison Fang," Zaku said.

"Tetsu, block him!" Sakura responded.

The Beldum slammed into the swooping Golbat's open mouth, pushing it back with Take Down. The Gobat tried biting down on the troublesome little ball baring, but that only resulted in him nearly breaking a tooth. Sakura smiled as Nightwish screamed in pain, flapping to put some distance between himself and Tetsu. "Really, trying to use Poison-type moves against a Steel-type?" she asked mockingly.

Sakura's attention was suddenly grabbed by Kin, who had her Bronzor teleport herself and her Steenee past Sasuke and herself, going straight for Naruto and the dark-haired girl. She then remembered that Naruto recently had a tough battle against Kiba, with no real time to rest between then and now. "Ochako, don't worry about us; go and heal Naruto's team," Sakura ordered. She turned back to Zaku, glaring. "Tetsu, hit him with another Take Down!"

"Nightwish, counter with Wing Attack!"

The two clashed mid-air, with Nightwish attempting to ward off his foe by beating the Beldum away with his wings, with only limited success.

"Steel-types resist Flying, you idiot; are those the only moves your overgrown bat knows?" Sakura taunted.

"As a matter of fact, no," Zaku responded, face darkening. "Nightwish, use Crunch!"

Before Sakura could shout a counterattack, Nightwish seized Tetsu in his fangs, which were charged with Dark-type energy.

"BRRRN!" Tetsu shrieked as it struggled to escape the super effective attack.

As Sakura and Zaku faced off, Kin decided to go straight for the girl with the Shiny Ralts. "Bijou, Teleport us over there."

Meanwhile, Naruto had turned to Hinata. "Hey, if you have any Pokémon, now would be a good time to call them out."

The girl winced, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, but Kikyo's too tired to battle-"

Before she could finish, Kin and her two Pokémon popped into existence right in front of them. "Killer Queen, Bijou, attack!"

"No you don't!" Naruto shouted, giving commands to Kubo.

The Froakie moved like lightning, shooting his tongue out in a swift Lick attack that ensnared Kin's Bijou.

"Good job, now, slam it!" Naruto ordered.

Kubo and Sora worked together, grabbing hold of Kubo's tongue and heaving. They swung the Bronzor into Killer Queen, knocking the Steenee over.

Naruto cheered. "Follow up with Quick Attack, Kubo!"

The Froakie rushed forward, but this time Kin was ready for him. "Killer Queen, use Razor Leaf!"

The prone Steenee whipped out her hand, firing a spread of knife-like leaves right into Kubo's face. The Froakie was knocked backwards by the attack's force, and hit the ground, unmoving.

Naruto winced, but noticed Ochako running towards them from behind Kin- if he could hold out for a little longer, she could patch up Kubo and they'd have a fighting chance!

Killer Queen and Bijou had gotten up and were advancing on Sora. "Look, I don't know how long Sora can last on his own," Naruto said to Hinata, "But any help would be more useful than no help! Even an exhausted Pokémon can distract them long enough for Ochako to help." He turned to Sora. "Keep them at bay with Ember!"

The Bagon spat out a spray of sparks, causing the two to back off. However, the trick wouldn't last long; Bijou was already circling around for a flanking attack.

Nodding, Hinata pulled out Kikyo's Cherish Ball. "I know you're tired, but we need your help!" With that, she called out her Ralts.

Sora continued his Ember attack, trying to keep a cloud of sparks and fire between himself and his foes. However, he couldn't keep breathing fire for much longer, or could he keep taps on two foes. An opening presented itself, and Bijou struck, grabbing the Bagon with Confusion. Forcing his mouth shut, the Bronzor hoisted Sora into the air while Killer Queen waltzed forward, looking rather smug.

"Hehe, good job girls, now hit that little dragon hard!" Kin hissed.

Killer Queen pulled back her sepals for a hard hit-

However, a lavender aura suddenly surrounded Sora, counteracting Bijou's Confusion. Freed, Sora blasted Ember right into Killer Queen's face, getting her in the eyes. Screaming, the Steenee staggered back, covering her eyes, while Sora landed on the ground and rocketed into her stomach, delivering a mighty Headbutt.

Naruto looked around to figure out what happened, and found his answer: Hinata's Shiny Ralts, looking ragged and exhausted, had managed to fight Bijou's Confusion with her own. "All right!"

"You little shit!" Kin shrieked, "You'll pay for that! Bijou, take that thing out with Gyro Ball!"

Spinning like a saw, the Bronzor flew at Kikyo. The Ralts tried to push it back telekinetically, but the effort caused her collapse.

"Kikyo!" Hinata cried.

Kubo's tongue suddenly shot in, lassoing Bijou, followed swiftly by a pair of green vines. Ochako was standing with Kubo, her leaf pressing against the Froakie as she administered Heal Pulse, while she helped him grapple Bijou.

"Yeah, teamwork!" Naruto shouted.

Giving a mighty heave, the two swung Bijou around, building up momentum. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto noticed Sora had been driving Killer Queen back by blasting a stream of Ember at her face, but the Steenee had managed to kick him way. "Okay, slam that Bronzor into the Steenee!"

Kubo and Ochako did just that, hitting Killer Queen with such force that it knocked her out. Bijou herself barely managed to float up, winded and nearly unconscious.

"Damn it!" Kin swore, looking panicked. Bijou wasn't just her last Pokémon- she was the Sound Trio's emergency getaway with Teleport! If she was knocked out, they'd be screwed. Kin glanced over at her other teammates.

Zaku had beaten the pink-haired twerp; she was recalling her Beldum and shouting for her friend's help. However, Dosu looked like he was in trouble. He had knocked out the emo-twerp's Shinx, but he responded by sending out his Charmander, which was pressuring Dosu's Thwackey with help from the Shiny Eevee.

"Screw it, we're out of here!" Kin announced. "Bijou, emergency Teleport!"

"What?!" Dosu and Zaku screamed, turning to face their teammate.

It was too late to do anything. The Bronzor flashed with blinding light, causing the Sound Trio and their Pokémon to glow for a second, and then vanish, with a pop.

There was a second of silence as Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Hinata, and their Pokémon looked dumbstruck at what had happened. Naruto spoke first.

"You miserable cowards! Come back here and fight!"

"It's no use, Naruto, they can't hear us," Sakura scolded. "And maybe it's better…our teams not exactly in the best shape." She pointed at Akodo, Sora, and Kikyo, and then at Tetsu's Pokéball.

Sasuke scoffed as they started recalling their unconscious Pokémon. "We could have taken them."

Hinata, meanwhile, ran over to her Ralts, scooping the unconscious Pokémon up. "Thank you for trying so hard, Kikyo," she said gently, pulling the bandage off her hand and touching the Pokémon's forehead; her hand glowed, transferring Aura from trainer to Pokémon.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked, looking over her shoulder.

Hinata gasped. "Oh, uh, well…"

"Hey, wait a second," Naruto said, recognition spreading across his face, "I know you!"

"Yeah, Naruto, we know; she's the girl that pulled you out of the river the other day," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes.

"No, that's not it," Naruto said angrily, looking at Sasuke from over his shoulder. He turned back to Hinata. "You were in our grade in Pokémon school, right? Your name's Hinata, right? Hinata Hyuga?"

Hinata gasped, her face turning red as a tomato.

"Hey, now that I think about it, she does look familiar," Sakura said, eyes wide with surprise. "How come I didn't think about it earlier?

Still blushing, Hinata looked down, twiddling her fingers. "Uh…well…y-you see…we were not in the same class last year, and well…I spent a lot of time studying with my family-"

"Yeah, you were training to be an Aura Guardian," Naruto interjected. "All the Hyuga are Aura Guardians, right?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

Despite herself, Hinata giggled. "No, not every member of my family…and I'm not one, either….at least, not yet. I-I'm still in training"

"So that's what you were doing…like, using Aura to heal your Pokémon, or maybe give it some energy?"

"Just a little energy," Hinata explained. "I'm not well-trained enough to do much else."

"Maybe we're doing this wrong," Sakura said, stepping forward. "We should introduce ourselves. I'm Sakura Haruno; I'm sorry for not recognizing you earlier."

"Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke said, "but you probably know that."

"Yeah, and I'm Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said. He smiled and gestured to his team. "And these are my Pokémon: Kubo and Sora."

"H-Hello, all of you," Hinata said, suddenly feeling nervous again. She bowed. "I'm Hinata Hyuga- but you know that already. Uh, this is Kikyo, my Ralts. Th-Thank you for saving me!"

"I should be thanking you!" Naruto said, holding out his hand. "You pulled me out of the river, and then vanished without a trace!"

Hinata blushed. "Well…Kikyo used her powers to lift you out…and, uh, Kikyo accidently Teleported us away." At Naruto's confused face, Hinata explained. "Uh, Ralts are very sensitive to their trainer's emotions. I guess she felt how embarrassed I was at being called a hero, and well, she decided I just wanted to disappear…" She gave a small, nervous laugh.

Naruto flashed an understanding smile. "It's okay. Thanks again for saving me!"

Hinata smiled, doing a curtsy. "And thank you for saving me."

"This is awfully cute, but let's get out of here," Sasuke said firmly. "We should get back to the Pokécenter before the Sound Trio decides to try and ambush us again."

"I thought you said we could take them, Sasuke?" Sakura said teasingly, grabbing hold of his arm. "Not feeling so tough now?"

"Only a fool is not vigilante against his enemies," Sasuke responded, which was one of the many sayings his father taught him. He pulled out of Sakura's grasp, and she in turn playfully tried grabbing him again. The two started walking away.

Naruto turned to Hinata. "Come on, that sounds like a good idea; we can get our teams healed up and a hot meal…and we can ask Nurse Joy to look at that burn on your hand."

Hinata, who was in the middle of returning Kikyo, felt herself blushing. "You noticed that?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, when you pulled the bandage off to treat your Ralts. I guess that burn was caused when you Teleported right in the middle of my attack…sorry about that."

"It was my fault," Hinata explained. "I…" She thought back to what had happened; in hindsight, it all seemed so silly. "I guess I got spooked by something that wasn't there and panicked. Sorry for all the trouble I caused you."

Yet, even as she and Naruto walked off after Sasuke and Sakura, Hinata briefly felt as if something was watching her. However, she just smiled and brushed it off, feeling safer than ever before.

Just as they reached the edge of the forest, Naruto turned back, looking a bit confused. "Why do I get the feeling we're forgetting something?

**-0o0o0-**

_Meanwhile, elsewhere in the forest…_

**-0o0o0-**

"Those stupid jerks!" Kiba growled angrily. "Abandoning me in middle of the woods while I'm unconscious! I'll get them…but first, I gotta rescue Hinata!" Kiba had remembered what happened as soon as he had regained consciousness, and had immediately started looking for her. "Come on boys, we've gotta find her scent!"

All three of Kiba's Pokémon, Akamaru, Bolt, and Chance, were out, using Oder Sleuth in an attempt to find the girl. However, they weren't having any luck.

"Growl-Growlithe," Akamaru said, looking over at his trainer.

"Yeah, I know it'd be easier if we had something with her scent on it, but unfortunately, I'm not a creepy stalker, so I don't have anything that belongs to her," Kiba said, as if he could understand the Pokémon.

Akamaru scoffed and was about to retort, only to stop when there was a flash and a popping sound above them. All of a sudden, a bunch of people and Pokémon fell from the sky, landing on top of Kiba!

"Ouch!" Zaku said, struggling to get up, "What's the big idea, Kin?! We almost had them-! Wait, who the Houndoom are you?" he demanded, pointing at Kiba.

Growling like an animal, Kiba detangled himself from the mass of people, eye wild. "What's the big idea, falling out of the sky like-?!" He trailed off, eyes widening as he noticed their Team Snake uniforms and the masks they were wearing. "IT'S TEAM SNAKE! WE'RE BEING AMBUSHED, BOYS!"

Before the trio knew what was happening, Kiba slammed his foot into Zaku's face, knocking him out cold. Nightwish shrieked in anger, trying to defend his master, only for Bolt and Chance to attack him from behind, biting down on his wings with Thunder Fang.

Crush and Bijou attempted to interview, but Akamaru hit first, knocking out both with the same flamethrower. The Growlithe then turned to Dosu, who was reaching for another ball at his belt, flames and smoke leaking from his mouth as he dared the trainer to make a move. Gulping, Dosu raised his hands above his head, with Kin following suit.

**-0o0o0-**

_A while later, at the Sprout Town Pokécenter…_

**-0o0o0-**

Hinata looked at her hands, where were as good as new thanks to Nurse Joy's Audino's Heal Pulse. Across from the table, Naruto and the others sat. enjoying the dinner Hinata had insisted upon buying for them as way of saying thanks for all they had done. Nearby in the center's play area, their Pokémon were enjoying a relaxing evening together after all the excitement.

"Thank you again," Hinata said, a phrase she had repeated many times already.

"Hey, you saved my life from the river," Naruto pointed out. "If anything, I should be buying you dinner."

"It'd be the only time a girl would let you," Sasuke snarked.

Hinata blushed, but Naruto brushed it aside.

"Hey, Hinata, how would you like to join us on our journey?" Naruto suddenly said.

Once again, Hinata was red as a tomato. Sakura's mouth dropped, and Sasuke started to say something, but Naruto clamped a hand over his mouth without looking.

"You saved my life, so I owe you; one of the reasons Sakura's traveling with us is because she helped save him," Naruto explained. "Also, I think it'd be really cool to hang out with an Aura Guardian-in-training. Besides, considering those Team Snake losers were after your Shiny Ralts, they might try it again! My mother would never forgive me if I left allowed a lady to travel unprotected," he concluded, giving an overly dramatic bow and smiling.

Next to him, Sakura looked surprised. "You know…that's actually some pretty solid reasoning. I'm with Naruto on this; you should totally join the team, Hinata!"

Sasuke pulled away from Naruto, glaring. However, instead of protesting, he just rolled his eyes, grunting, "Do as you wish."

"I-I…uh, thank you!" Hinata said, beside herself. "I'd really…really like traveling with you…all of you," she added. Then, after a moment's hesitation, she went on. "I've never had any serious friends before…Kiba and some others were nice, but this would be the first time people wanted me to be part of their group."

At the mention of Kiba, Sakura's memory clicked. "Shoot, we left Kiba behind!"

While Hinata looked at the other girl in confusion, Naruto struggled to between feeling guilt or amusement over the situation. "Don't worry, Kiba's a big boy. I'm sure he's just fine," he said nonchalantly, trying to convince himself it was true.

**-0o0o0-**

_Back in the Woods…_

**-0o0o0-**

Dosu, Zaku, and Kin hung helplessly in the air, suspended upside-down from a sturdy branch, dangling a few feet above the ground. In front of them, in a neat little row, were their Pokéballs, all with their Pokémon recalled inside and the safety lock engaged. Once in a while, one would wiggle as the occupant tried to escape, but with the lock on, it was impossible.

It was an elaborate set up, but Kiba thought it was worth the trouble.

The wild-faced boy glowered down at his would-be attackers, pacing back and forth in front of them, slowly drumming a branch the size of a baseball bat in his hand. Akamaru sat in front of the trio, looking rather menacing, while Chance and Bolt flanked them on either side.

"So," Kiba growled, coming to a stop in front of Zaku, "Thought you could get the drop on me, did you? Thought that because I was wounded and my head was still spinning from being knocked out, I'd be an easy mark?" He poked Zaku in the face with the branch. "Too bad I've got a lot more fight in me than you expected!" He pulled the stick back, as if he were winding up for a hit-

"I swear, you've got it all wrong!" Zaku pleaded quickly. "We weren't trying to mug you at all! It was an honest mistake!"

"No, you just jumped me all at once with your Pokémon out by accident," Kiba said flatly, looking unimpressed. Still, he lowered the stick.

"We didn't jump you! We were accidently teleported on top of you!" Zaku explained hurriedly.

"…really?" Kiba asked, looking like he could almost believe it.

"Of course it's true, you moron!" Kin shouted.

Next to her, Bolt growled, his rump sparking with electricity.

"Stop antagonizing the dude threatening us with a club!" Zaku shouted at her. "Especially when he's aiming it at me!"

"Stop groveling, you coward!" Kin snapped back. She turned to Kiba, who had walked over to her. "Think about it, you idiot: our team was already mostly knocked out and tired. Why would we be ambushing you with our crew like that!? We just got in trouble, and I had my Bronzor Teleport us out of harm's way; now stop acting all tough and cut me down! All the blood's flowing to brain and worst yet, my hair's getting rubbed in the dirt!"

Kiba looked thoughtful for a moment, considering all she had said. "Really? What sort of trouble?" he asked casually.

"We ran into an Ursaring's den," Dosu lied smoothly. "We didn't realize it was a mother with cubs." On either side of him, Dosu's teammates nodded vigorously in agreement.

All at once, Kiba's demeanor changed. "Oh, man, I am _**soooo**_ sorry for all this! Man, I feel so stupid! That makes perfect sense!" He pulled out a knife, reaching for the rope holding Kin up.

"Of course it does!" Zaku said. "It's the truth!" He was so relieved, he started laughing deliriously, and soon, Kin and Dosu joined in.

"Yeah," Kiba said, stopping just before he cut the rope. "…except, for a few problems."

All at once, the laughing stopped.

"You see, my mama took me camping all the time, so I learned a few things," Kiba said slowly. "For starters, there aren't any Ursaring in these woods. You find them closer to the mountains."

Dosu winced; the blood must have been getting to his brain to make a mistake like that.

"Secondly," Kiba went on. "I went through your pockets, and you aren't carrying any IDs on yourselves…not even a Pokémon license. Now, the only reason for anyone to do that is if they don't want anyone IDing them somehow. But really, the most obvious reason I know you're lying: you're all wearing Team Snake uniforms, and you all had masks on. Care to explain that?"

The trio looked at one another helplessly. Finally, Zaku spoke up. "…we were cosplaying for a convention?" He smiled nervously.

Kiba glared, dropping his stick. He turned to his dogs. "Boys, sic 'em!"


	5. Chapter 5: Fire and Grass

**-0-**

**Disclaimer**

Let me just start out with the standard Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Pokémon, or any of the associated or mentioned franchises/companies, and I am not making a profit on this.

-0-0-0-0-

**Author's Note**

I am very sorry this took forever to upload. Both complications with life and the story itself slowed down the writing.

In life, I experience my first major automobile accident. I hit a chunk of asphalt that had gotten ripped up and left in the middle of the road; it completely ripped out my entire oil pan. And with several other problems, it quickly became clear that repairing it would have cost more than the car was worth. As such, I spent nearly two months car shopping and putting in extra hours at work to buy a replacement vehicle. Luckily, God saw fit to bless me with good fortune, and I ended up finding a lovely, used hybrid car that was in excellent condition and only cost me about half of my savings.

The major problem I had to deal with however was the chapter itself. After writing it up, my editor and I agreed it wasn't very good and scrapped it. This chapter went through about six rewrites before I was finally happy with it. In fact, the changes have had some major influences on the whole plot. For example, I had a completely different idea for the heroes' teams before this chapter. You can take a guess as to what exactly I mean, but to avoid spoilers, I won't give any more details on it until next chapter.

Ironically, while I was in the middle of writing and editing this chapter, I got a good deal done on the next one; I really want to publish it within a month. My current goal is to make a chapter at least every 2 months, and hopefully monthly, if I can manage it…I know I keep making that statement. Hopefully, I can fulfill it!

-0-0-0-0-

**Review Response**

WhiskeyPeak: Yes, Pokémon from _Sword & Shield_ will appear in my fic, as was seen with Dosu's Thwackey last chapter

Shadowwolf1997: Kiba was an extremely fun character to write; he's very comical, boisterous, and bounces off Naruto and Hinata's characters rather well, while still being a strong trainer. I admit, I am going to miss Rhapsody; he was a very unique 'mon for Hinata that really took on a life of his own, though he was clearly inspired by Ash's Totodile. However, he doesn't fit in well with the new team dynamics I've got planned, so he'll not be reappearing. However, as you'll see in this chapter, Hinata will have teammates that subvert the expectations that she'll be all about grace and finesse; at least one member of her team is going to…_**appreciate**_ the art of brutality.

mwto: Ironically, my editor wanted me to drop the Ditto theory entirely, saying it wasn't necessary and didn't fit Sasuke at all. I thought it'd be nice for Sasuke to have a comical moment, and the best way to do that is for him to be overly serious. I'm glad you liked Dosu's Chatot; I plan on having him speak in song whenever he makes an appearance, as running gag (it's actually one of the reasons I don't mention him in this chapter, as I couldn't find an easy way for him to sing in any of the scenes where he could possibly appear; just assume he's injured and is still resting). As for Absol…well, if I told you, would there be a point in making it so terribly mysterious? It might have a connection to Neji…after all, he did have one in the last story…though why is it following Hinata? Hmm, questions, questions. Lastly, yes, characters from the games will appear, and they can be related to characters from the anime. In fact, it will be a plot point in the Teakgrove chapters! That's all the spoilers you'll be getting on that!

Dreaming of the Phoenix: Oh, it is definitely going to be a running gag that Kiba keeps getting left behind. I adore Kiba, and he's one of my favorite characters, which is why I love giving him such bad luck. If I don't like characters, I leave them dull and flat; I give fun dynamics to characters I like.

HarunoWolf17: Hello, and thanks for your enthusiasm. It might be a bit overwhelming, but it is appreciated. For Sakura's Fighting-type, my editor is insisting on Momo (her Bewear) returning. I must admit, I was very fond of her, and I've got some plans for her personality. Someone in my fic will get a Gallade…but it will NOT be any of the main characters. Since it isn't much of a spoiler, I'll give you a hint: he had a Ralts in my old fic, though it only appeared once, towards the end (second hint: he's an albino).

Tops: Thank you for your loyalty, and yes, the pandemic has flipped life upside-down. There will be similarities to my old fic, but this is a remake, so I am trying to make changes, both in team line-up and in story. I am glad you are enjoying it thus far.

Guest Questions: On the question of TMs, I am going to keep them like they were in my old fic, in which they are a medical injection which causes a Pokémon's body to adapt so it can use the new Technique. Disk/data TMs are great for the games, but would make it too easy for a Pokemon to have a huge move pool with minimal effort, especially since Pokémon in my fic use way more than 4 moves. However, I think I'll have it so that every Gym Leader gives out a data-code to trainers that they can renew at a Pokécenter for a free TM injection, possibly with multiple uses.  
On the subject of the trainers capturing too many 'mons at once, I am torn. One of the problems in my last fic is that in 20 chapters, no one had a full team; yeah, everyone got a lot of time to shine, but often, the story felt very empty, like filler. It was too aimless. I plan on making the teams come together much quicker now, while also letting everyone have time to shine. The story will be much more focused.

Sora may or may NOT know Dragon Rush…Naruto assumes he does, since that would explain how he was able to get up high and fall from the sky…but at the same time, that's a pretty weak theory, and Naruto even admits it. Plus, they were not in Sora's natural habitat. Clearly, things are not all they seem with Naruto's little Dragon-type…I wonder if that will be a plot point?

Thank you everyone for your suggestions, and now I'll stop torturing you with this long introduction and let you just enjoy the fic itself!

-0o0o0-

**The Hero's Pokémon & Accomplishments:**

**Naruto Uzumaki**:

_Team Members_: Kubo (Froakie, male, Starter), Sora (Bagon, male)

_Badges & Awards_: None

**Sasuke Uchiha**:

_Team Members_: Bayushi (Eevee, male, Shiny), Togashi (Charmander, male, Starter), Akodo (Shinx, male)

_Badges & Awards_: None

**Sakura Haruno**:

_Team Members_: Ochako (Chikorita, female, Starter), Tetsu (Beldum, male*)

_Badges & Awards_: None

**Hinata Hyuga**:

_Team Members_: Kikyo (Ralts, female, Starter, Shiny)

_Badges & Awards_: None

-0o0o0-

Pokémon: Konoha Region

Chapter 5

Fire and Grass

"Here you go, Kikyo," Hinata said gently, handing her Ralts half her sandwich.

She had been traveling with Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke for a day now, and was still getting used to the group. Right now, they were having a lunch outside a rest stop just at the edge of Teakgrove Lake. Across the water lay Teakgrove Town itself, where they all hoped to earn their first gym badge.

As she silently chewed her half of the sandwich, Hinata mused about the upcoming gym challenge. Naruto had been happily talking about it- Teakgrove's Gym Leader, Iruka, was a favorite teacher of Naruto's who had moved away a year ago. Naruto was eager to see him again…and to earn his first badge. Hinata had to admire his boisterous confidence; she wasn't even sure she should be on a journey, let alone ready for her first gym challenge.

"Hinata, are you sure you should be feeding your Pokémon like that?" Sakura asked, indicating to how Hinata had fed Kikyo her own food.

Shaken from her thoughts, Hinata noticed what Sakura meant: everyone else's Pokémon were eating Poké-food. "Oh," Hinata said slowly, not sure how to respond.

"I mean, there's nothing wrong with feeding your team human food, but it might get expensive after a while," Sakura said. "I only do it on special occasions."

"If you do it every day, they might develop a taste for human food. They could get even picky if you're not careful," Sasuke pointed out, setting his sandwich down on the table. As if on cue, Bayushi suddenly reached over and shamelessly pulled out a slice of meat from it. Next to him, Akodo hissed angrily, telling the thief to put it back.

Hinata nodded. "I understand. It's just…I'm not sure Kikyo has had normal Pokémon food before," she admitted bashfully.

"Eh?" Naruto asked.

Now Bayushi and Akodo were hissing and swiping at one another; Sasuke, who had picked up his sandwich to take a bite out of it, put it down angrily. "What are you two fighting about **now**?!" However, everyone else ignored them.

"Kikyo's been a treasured member of my family's household," Hinata explained. "She's the only child of my mother's- I mean, of my _father's_ Gardevoir and Mienshao."

Naruto noticed how Hinata had tripped up upon mentioning her mother; he had a pretty good idea why, but said nothing.

Hinata went on. "For Aura Guardians, the bond between trainer and their Pokémon partner is especially close. My father and his Mienshao share their all their meals." She thought about it. "I suppose it was just normal for the same to happen with me and Kikyo. It must seem impractical to you."

"No, we understand!" Sakura said quickly.

"Yeah, can't Pokémon trained with Aura talk with telepathy or something?" Naruto pointed out. "I can't imagine telling someone who can talk to me like a person that they have to eat Pokémon feed while I get human food."

"Froakie?" Kubo croaked, putting his hands on his hips and glaring at Naruto.

"Hey, don't pretend you don't like it," Naruto said. "People food is for people and Poké-food is for Pokémon."

Kubo looked unimpressed with his reasoning.

Sighing, Naruto grabbed a pellet of Poké-food from pellet from Kubo's bowl, and to both Sakura and Hinata's surprise, popped it into his mouth and ate it. "See, it's delicious," Naruto said. "But, if you really don't want it…" The boy started reaching for a second pellet.

"Froak-kie!" Kubo shouted, kicking Naruto's hand away, to which the boy laughed.

While all this was happening, Kikyo listened to the humans talk, a thoughtful look appearing on her face. After seeing Naruto happily eat some of Kubo's Pokémon food, she made up her mind.

The Ralts set the sandwich half Hinata had given her down on her plate, pushing it to the girl. "Ralts," she said gently. _…Yours…_

"Kikyo, you don't have to do that," Hinata said, trying to hand the food back to her Pokémon.

Kikyo, however, pushed the plate back, gesturing to the other Pokémon, none of which were eating human food like her. _…Not fair to them…_ the Ralts insisted telepathically.

"Do you want to try some Poké-food?" Sakura asked sweetly, pouring out a bowl of her homemade variety. She didn't have enough to feed everyone's team, but she could spare some just this once.

"You don't have to do that," Hinata said gently.

"It's no trouble," Sakura replied. "In fact, it's very empathetic of Kikyo to want to be treated like everyone else." She offered the bowl to the Ralts.

To Sakura's surprise, not only did it float out of her hand over to Kikyo, but the Pokémon responded to her. _…Thank you…_

"Did she just talk?!" Sakura gasped.

"She's a Psychic-type and her trainer is an Aura Guardian (in-training), what'd you expect?" Naruto pointed out. "The Ralts line is known to be especially empathic and have an affinity for telepathy. Aren't you studying to be a Pokémon doctor?"

"Well, Psychics weren't a major focus of my studies," Sakura defensively pointed out. "Tsunade specialized in Dragons, after all, and we barely got any Psychic-types brought into the clinic, anyway."

While the humans talked back and forth, Kikyo peacefully ate her bowl of food. It wasn't the first time she had eaten Poké-food, actually; it was just that most of the time, she ate with Hinata. Kikyo had to admit…it wasn't as good as human food…but it wasn't bad. In fact, she could get used to it. Smiling, she looked over at the other Pokémon eating. Kubo shoved his bowl over and sat down, saying hello, and Ochako followed suit. Sora hadn't even looked up since Naruto had set down his extra-large bowl, steadily eating and lifting his head only enough to take in a breath of air before going back in for another bite. Sasuke had separated Akodo and Bayushi, putting each on separate sides of himself, and finally got to start on his sandwich. After a bite, he complained about it having no meat on it. Bayushi giggled, and without even looking up, Togashi's tail darted out, whacking the Eevee on the back of the head so fast he didn't even know what happened.

Smiling, Kikyo mused that she could get used to this.

"Hey Hinata, now that I think about it, I haven't seen you use any Pokémon other than your Ralts," Naruto pointed out. "Is she your only team member?"

Hinata nodded. "Yeah. I suppose I haven't come across a Pokémon I am interested in yet," she admitted slowly.

"You'd better catch one pretty soon; we're almost at Teakgrove Town," Naruto said. "You'll want to have time to train them before battling for your first badge, after all!"

Sakura angrily shushed Naruto, but Hinata spoke up. "No, you're right. All of you have already caught at least one Pokémon. I really need to pick up the pace too!"

**-0o0o0-**

After lunch, the group had a look around at the rest stop's Pokémart. They weren't in desperate need of supplies, and Teakgrove was only a boat ride, but Sakura pointed out that it was always good to be prepared.

"Besides, we're going to be roughing it out tonight," Naruto added.

"Wait, what? What are you talking about?" Sakura asked, looking over at Naruto. "If we take the ferry across the lake, we'll be in Teakgrove by sunset; more than enough time to get a room at the Pokécenter."

"But we're not taking the ferry; we're going around the lake," Naruto said, as if it were obvious.

"Why on earth would we do that?" Sakura asked.

Naruto gave her a look. "Oh, I guess you don't know about the ol' Palewood Estate." Sakura shook her head, so Naruto went on. "In the woods by the lake, between Teakgrove and Oakcrown city, there's an old abandoned mansion called the Palewood Estate. People say it's haunted!"

Unnoticed by the others, Hinata suddenly tensed up.

Next to him, Sasuke nodded in agreement. "The place used to be a training dojo as well as an estate, but it was abandoned a long time ago…before my great-grandfather's time, I think. For a lot of old families, it's a tradition for boys just starting out their journey to spend the night in the estate as a test of courage." He then added, with some satisfaction, "My father spent the night in the old master bedroom when he started out his journey."

"I've never heard of it," Sakura admitted.

"Really?" Naruto asked, looking surprised.

"It makes sense; the place was closed down about nine years ago," Sasuke said. "There was some sort of incident. I think someone got hurt or something."

Hinata shifted uncomfortably, trying her best not to be noticed.

"The only reason you and I know about it is because our families have stories about it," Sasuke pointed out to Naruto.

"Yeah, but it's been opened back up recently, so I've been planning on going there since before we started traveling!" Naruto said eagerly. "It's going to be so scary; a perfect way to prove my courage!"

"What's so scary about spending the night in an old abandoned house?" Sakura asked skeptically.

"It isn't just an old house!" Naruto said defensively, "It's haunted! The last family that lived there all died mysterious and tragic deaths, one right after the other!"

"If it was dangerous, they wouldn't have reopened the place," Sakura pointed out. "It's just a tourist trap."

"Even if it is, it's still a natural haunt for Ghost-types and other rare Pokémon," Sasuke pointed out. "I'm not going to pass up this chance to catch such a rare type early in my Pokémon Journey…besides, my father told me he saw a real ghost of the man who used to own the place! It really is haunted."

"Sasuke, don't tell me you believe in all that!" Sakura whined. "Ghost's aren't real- GHOST-TYPES DON'T COUNT!" she added angrily as Naruto opened his mouth. "Ghost Pokémon are just living creatures that don't follow the traditional physics and dimensions of our world- they're born and can get sick and die just like any other Pokémon! We just call them ghosts because they behave like mythical ghosts. In fact, most scientists think that legends of ghosts and spirits originate from people mistaking Ghost-Pokémon for human ghosts."

Naruto scoffed. "Yamask are spirits of people from old tombs, and Phantumps are the ghosts of children who die in the woods!"

"Those are just old legends," Sakura said. She had heard about Yamask before (its line was a staple for old horror movies), but she had no idea what a Phantump was- she had had enough legends of people dying and becoming Ghost-types to know what Naruto was talking about. "Think about it: Yamask can be bred like any other Pokémon. If it was a ghost of a person, how would that be possible?"

"It doesn't matter," Sasuke said, cutting off Naruto before he could give a retort. "We're going to the Palewood Estate; if we find a ghost, we find a ghost. If not, at least we can try catching some rare Pokémon."

As the three continued to talk excitedly about the Palewood Estate, Hinata looked away solemnly. She had never wanted to return to that place…not after what happened.

"Hey, Hianta, what do you think?" Naruto asked; Hinata had been so deep in her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed he had walked right in front of her and was only a few inches away. "Are you excited about staying the night in a haunted house?"

The girl gasped and jumped back. "No!" she let out without meaning to.

"Oh shoot! Sorry!" Naruto said quickly. "I guess we should have asked you if you're scared of ghosts-"

"It's not that!" Hinata said quickly. She paused, clearing her throat. "Y-You surprised me, that's all. I…I was just thinking about something…from a long time ago…" She trailed off.

"Ah, sorry," Naruto said bashfully. "Well, what do you think about going to the Palewood Estate, anyway? I mean, if you don' want to-"

"It will be fine," Hinata lied smoothly.

Next to her, Kikyo gave her a sad look, sensing how Hinata was really feeling.

"…perfectly fine," Hinata said firmly.

A little while later, something caught Naruto's eye. "Hey, look at this," he said, calling to the others.

The store was offering a special service: trainers could trade out one of their team member's old Pokéballs for a new one, for a small fee (and the cost of the ball, of course). However, currently, the store was offering to let trainers pay for only the cost of the service to trade out an old Pokéball for a Premier Ball.

Sasuke read the advertisement and looked at Naruto. "What's so great about that?"

"It's great 'cause you get to have a stylish Premier Ball for your team!" Naruto said as if it was obvious. "Why have all your Pokémon in the same basic, boring balls when you can mix things up and have them all in different Pokéballs?"

Sasuke scoffed. "That's so shallow. Since when has aesthetics had anything to do with being a good trainer?"

"I don't know, Sasuke, I think there's nothing wrong with wanting to be cute and stylish," Sakura suggested playfully.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but remained silent. As Naruto handed Sora's Pokéball over to the clerk behind the counter to get it exchanged for a Premier Ball, the clerk decided to speak up. "I overheard you talking about wanting to collect a variety of Pokéballs," he said with a crafty look as he handed Sora's ball over to his assistant to make the actual switch. "You know, we're having a special offer on Pokéballs."

"Eh?" Naruto asked, looking intrigued. Nearby, Sakura and Hinata both turned their attention to him, and even Sasuke looked up.

The clerk motioned to a nearby device- a ball dispenser of some sort. "Why not try out the Pokéball Lottery? Pay a fee, pull the crank, and out comes a brand new Pokéball; there's a chance for all sorts of balls, from Great to Quick, and even Ultra Balls. Check the disclaimer for details on what is available and the price."

"Cool," Naruto said, looking at the sign, "the least valuable ball you could win is still a Great Ball!"

"And it costs a little more than a Great Ball," Sasuke said, pointing at the charge. "It's a rip-off."

"But there are all sorts of other balls you could win, and there's an equal chance at any of them," Sakura said. "There are Heal and Luxury Balls, and those are normally so expensive."

"Humph," Sasuke said, but privately, he was somewhat interested in the offer. An Ultra Ball could be so useful.

"So, shall I add one or two cranks of the ball lotto to your bill?" the clerk asked. "You can pay for it and check out all at once." He motioned the basket of supplies Sakura had set on the counter, which included food, some Potions, and Poison Heals.

Naruto groaned. The three of them had pooled their resources together since they started traveling together. Even so, they'd have to be careful with their finances- their parents had put them all on monthly allowances that were deemed appropriate for trainers their age. There would be nothing more humiliating than calling up home to explain that they had used it all on frivolous things.

"We'll take four tries at the Pokéball Lotto, please," Hinata quickly said, stepping forward. Avoiding looking at the others, she reached into her bag and pulled out a shiny credit card and handed it to the clerk. "P-Please charge it to that card, along with our groceries- a-and his Premier Ball change," she added, pointing at the clerk's assistant, who was holding out Sora's new white Premier Ball.

"Here's a costumer I like," the clerk said, swiftly charging everything on Hinata's card. "Okay, that takes care of everything. As for the lotto, just pull the crank four times and get four new balls." He went off to tend to other things in the store.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all looked at Hinata, who was blushing terribly.

Naruto spoke up first. "You didn't have to do that! I mean, it was really nice, but that was really expensive, and you shouldn't spend all your money on us just like that!"

Hinata shook her head. "N-No, it really wasn't a big deal. I mean, you guys saved me, so I just wanted to find a way to say thank you…"

"You already have- and you saved my life, too!" Naruto pointed out. "We're a team- all these supplies are for all of us; you shouldn't have to pay for everything. That must have cost you your whole monthly stipend." Next to him, Sasuke and Sakura nodded.

At this, Hinata turned away with an odd look on her face, blushing. "...it didn't."

"Pardon?" Naruto asked, not sure what she meant.

"It didn't cost me all of my monthly stipend," Hinata hiccupped, giving a nervous chuckle. "Not even a quarter of it."

Eyes widening, Naruto took a look at the receipt; the total was more than his allowance for the month. He looked back up at Hinata.

"I guess you could say my father is very generous," Hinata said nervously. "He told me he never wanted me to be without any supplies or a means of paying for safe travel…as long as I don't spend it on anything foolish." She looked down, twiddling her fingers.

"Uh…" Naruto was not sure how to respond to that.

"So, who's going to be the first one to try their luck with this thing?" Sasuke said, changing the subject back to the Pokéball Lotto.

"Well, Hinata paid for it, so I think she should go first," Sakura suggested.

Naruto agreed, gently pushing Hinata forward. "Good luck!"

Smiling nervously, Hinata gently gripped the crank and gave it a pull. The machine lit up, and out rolled a black Pokéball with yellow 'U' across the top.

"Ooh an Ultra Ball! Talk about lucky," Naruto said, playfully elbowing Hinata in the ribs.

Hinata smiled and took the ball, and then Sakura gave the crank a tug. Once again, the machine lit up and out rolled a ball. Sakura cringed slightly upon recognizing it. "A Great Ball...that's not too bad." Sakura was disappointed, but she did her best not to show it- being a lotto, it was a role of the dice, after all. Still, compared to Hinata's Ultra Ball, Sakura did seem a bit unlucky.

"I'll go next," Naruto said happily. He cranked the machine, which dispensed a blue Pokéball that had yellow lightning-like lines across it. "Ha, a Quick Ball!" Naruto cheered, scooping his prize up. He turned to Sasuke. "Your turn."

"I know that," Sasuke said dryly as he pulled the crank. Sasuke's ball was teal blue with crisscrossing bands across its top; he picked it up and looked at it curiously.

"That's a Net Ball. It's designed with a special capture net that's extra effective against Water and Bug-types," Sakura explained.

"…it will be useful," Sasuke said simply, putting it in his backpack.

"Thanks, Hinata!" Naruto cheered, wrapping an arm on her should and fist-pumping with his other arm. "You're way too nice, you know that?"

While Sasuke and Sakura gave their own thanks, Hinata just turned red and smiled, twiddling her fingers.

**-0o0o0-**

"If we travel along this path, it'll be dark right as we get to the Palewood Estate," Sasuke said, checking his Pokénav.

They were traveling along a dirt road in the woods that lined the side of Teakgrove Lake. The trees were not growing thickly, and the trail was close enough that they could see still see the lake from where they were walking, through it was far off.

"It might take longer than that. It doesn't look like this road's been well-maintained," Sakura pointed out. The ground was uneven in places, and shrubs and weeds had started to grow in some areas.

"It wouldn't be," Sasuke said. "The highway passes the lake on the other side, where the forest's been cleared, and the ferry can take people across the lake much faster than walking around it, so there's no reason for Teakgrove Town to play to upkeep the road."

"There's the haunted house, and trainers might want to try their luck catching Pokémon here," Naruto pointed out.

Sasuke scoffed. "The Palewood Estate were closed until a few months ago, and if trainers are going to look for Pokémon, they shouldn't be traveling along the path anyway."

"Heh, I wonder what sort of Pokémon we can find here anyway?" Naruto asked, smiling big.

"Maybe we'll run into some scary Ghost-types," Sasuke said, giving Naruto a nasty smile.

"So? I ain't scared of no ghost!" Naruto responded defensively.

"Hmm," Sakura said thoughtfully, pulling out her own 'nav. "According to the map, you can find Ghost-types here, but they're rare and nest around the Palewood Estate. Mostly, this area's known to be home to lots of common Grass, Bug, and Normal-types-"

A loud cawing cut Sakura off as a Murkrow flew past them from above.

"-along with a large number of Murkrow," she concluded as the Darkness Pokémon flew out of sight.

"Tch, I hate Murkrow," Sasuke growled. "They're Rattata with wings. Filthy, foul, feathered fiends."

"Vee," Bayushi agreed, glaring at where the Murkrow had been.

"You forgot to mention 'frightful', 'faithless', and 'fainthearted'," Naruto said teasingly.

Sasuke leveled a glare at him.

"I thought your family raised Dark-types?" Sakura asked Sasuke. "Wouldn't it be normal for you to like them?"

The dark-haired boy scoffed. "My mother and brother are Dark-type specialists, but most of the family favors Fire-types. But that's why I hate Murkrow; my brother trained a bunch of them, and I found out what filthy little buzzards they were firsthand."

Sakura giggled flirtatiously. "You don't talk about your family much- tell me more." She winked and grabbed hold of his arm. Sasuke just sighed, rolling his eyes.

Sakura's words got Naruto thinking. "Hinata, what about your family?" he asked suddenly.

Only, the girl in question was hardly paying attention; instead, she was looking off in the distance quietly. In fact, she hadn't even reacted to the Murkrow loudly cawing overhead.

Naruto called to her again, causing the girl to yelp and turn quickly, almost knocking over her Ralts, who was riding along on her backpack.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," Naruto said.

"I-It's okay…I was just…daydreaming," she said, trailing off. She cleared her throat and said, "What is it you asked?"

"I was just curious about your family," Naruto asked bashfully. "You haven't spoken about them much."

"The same could be said for you, Naruto," Sakura pointed out, but Naruto ignored her.

"It's okay," Hinata reassured them. "Well…there's my father, who's the Head of the Hyuga clan, and my younger sister, Hanabi. She and I were very close…she got a bit teary when I left." Hinata paused, smiling.

"Don't you have a big brother?" Sakura asked. "I sort of remember him, but he got to skip out classes because of his Aura Guardian training. But he also graduated top of his class, right?"

"Ah, you mean Neji," Hinata said softly. "Yes, he's my brother, sort of…you see, his father was my father's identical twin and, well…" She paused, looking down. "Well, when Neji was four, his father…passed on. After that, my father took Neji in and adopted him. So, Neji's my cousin _**and**_ my elder brother."

"And your half sibling, genetically speaking, since your biological fathers are twins," Sakura pointed out.

Everyone stared at her.

"…what? It's true," Sakura said. "It's kind of neat, if you think about it."

Hinata smiled. "Yes. And Neji was the top of his class. He's actually a prodigy at both Pokémon training and Aura arts. That pleased Father to no end."

"Bet that puts pressure on you, right?" Naruto asked before he could help it.

"N-No, actually," Hinata said gently. "That's one of the reasons Father is very pleased." The others looked at her confused, and she explained. "Well, I don't have a lot of talent with Aura, so my father used to be under a lot of pressure from our clan elders to make sure I can meet their expectations. Only, father didn't want that. You see, after mother-" Hinata paused again, uncomfortably clearing her throat. "-after mother died, my father grew very protective, especially because of what happened to- I mean, especially after losing Uncle, too." She signed, adding, "He didn't even want me to go on a Pokémon Journey."

"What?" Naruto asked, looking shocked.

However, it was Sasuke who was the most confused. "Aren't you the clan heiress? You need to go on a journey and get strong."

Hinata looked away, twiddling her fingers. "I…I am, but father said that it was more important for me to grow up as an Aura Guardian and a proper lady. 'Why should I be put in harm's way, when I could stay where it's safe and learn everything I needed at home?' he would say. He…he didn't want risk to lose any more family members…and he said that Hanabi and I were all he had left of mother. Luckily, he changed his mind…" Though she looked like she had more to say, Hinata didn't elaborate on what caused her father's change of heart.

There was an awkward silence, which Naruto broke by abruptly saying, "Whoa, that's a lot of drama."

"Shut up, idiot!" Sakura hissed, slapping the back of his head.

"Hey, what was that for?" Naruto hissed back. He turned to Hinata. "Okay, but what's your cousin- uh, I mean, what's your brother got to do with that?"

Hinata smiled weakly. "Well, Father says that Neji so talented he can bear some of my burden as heiress. He can be strong, so it doesn't matter that I'm…frail."

"Your father says you're frail?" Naruto asked, being sure to move just out of Sakura's reach.

"No!" Hinata said quickly. "No, he never said anything like that. Not really. He's always just said that he has to keep me and Hanabi safe. Especially me." She remembered something her father had told the clan elders. "A wind that might not bother a tree can knock over a flower, but the flower isn't weak. It's just its nature. My father…just wants to protect me…like he promised mother."

"I'm…sure he means well," Sakura said awkwardly, patting Hinata on the shoulder.

"Yeah, but still, think how great it's going to be when you show him how strong you've gotten!" Naruto suddenly said, waving his hands out. "You'll be on TV during the Konoha League Championship, shouting, 'STILL THINK I'M A FRAIL FLOWER?!'"

Hinata laughed so hard she snorted a little.

**-0o0o0-**

"You're lucky I was assigned this job. Normally, I just stay in Teakgrove Town," Mizuki said to his passengers. The whitehaired man was driving a nondescript black van; in the hub next to him was Dosu of the Sound Trio. The Trio's other members, Kin and Zaku road in the back, along with Mizuki's valuable cargo: over a dozen Pokéballs, most containing Pokémon that had been subjected to genetic experiments.

"Thanks again for the ride," Dosu said. "After our last…encounter, we weren't exactly looking forward to traveling anywhere by foot." He winced, thinking back to how that dog boy had allowed his team to brutalize the three of them.

"Sure, but remember, you owe me a favor now," Mizuki said, flashing a nasty smile. "Nothing in this world is free, after all."

"Yeah, yeah," Zaku sighed from the back of the van. He glanced around, spotting the van's digital manifest, and picked it up. "Why do you even have to smuggle Pokémon like this anyway? Can't they just be shipped digitally, like how they do it in Pokémon Centers?" The manifest listed each Pokémon's species, ball number, and the sort of experiments Team Snake had done to them.

"All digitalized transportation is carefully monitored by Konoha Law Enforcement; any attempt to send an illegally owned Pokémon through the public digital system will tip off the cops," Mizuki explained. "Team Snake is working on its own transport system, but it's smaller and limited- and it can still be detected by cops if used excessively. Nope, for now, old-fashioned smuggling is the only way you can transport illegal Pokémon across the country. Which is pretty good for us, since that's Team Snake's major source of income."

As Mizuki came to Teakgrove Lake, he turned off the main road and into a dirt one that lead into the woods.

"Why are we turning here?" Dosu asked. "Shouldn't we stay on the main road?"

"Relax, it's just a safety measure," Mizuki explained. "This road used to lead to an old attraction for new trainers, but it got shut down a few years back; now it's a perfect route if you want to avoid cops or suspicious eyes."

"Yeah, if you don't crash first," Dosu said as they hit a bump in the road.

As Mizuki reminded Dosu he was free to get out and walk if he wanted, Kin and Zaku amused themselves in the back.

"Whoa, some of this stuff sounds really cool," Zaku said, reading through the manifest. "Creepy to think that these are Pokémon that have suffered inhuman experiments, but still cool."

"From risk comes progress. That's the way of science," Kin said, shrugging. She looked over at the cargo box of Pokéballs. To her shock, there was the sound of something moving inside it. She took a closer look, and sure enough, she could see something moving from in-between the cracks on the box's side. "Something's loose back here!" she gasped, ripping open the box without thinking.

"Put the lid back on! A lot of those 'mons are supposed to be dangerous!" Zaku cried.

Instead, Kin let out a laugh and reached inside, pulling out a pure black Pokéball. The ball wiggled and its center lit up as its occupant attempted to force its way out, something that would be impossible with the safety lock engaged. "Looks like someone's not happy," Kin joked, turning the ball in her hand. Stamped on the front of it where the numbers '626'.

"Wait, I think I just read about that one," Zaku said, looking through the manifest. "Yeah, right here: 'Subject 626: overwhelming success. Subject's body has been enhanced to produce nitroglycerin-based fuel, and its physiology has been altered to handle it; Fire-based attacks show a markedly greater heat and concussive force. Side effects include a permanent discoloration of fur and overactive adrenaline centers. Warning: subject is extremely aggressive and given to violent outbursts. Keep subject in containment ball with safety lock engaged at all times.'" He looked up at Kin. "Cool!"

"Hey, what's with all the commotion back there?!" Mizuki demanded, looking over his shoulder at them and realizing Kin was holding one of the balls. "_**PUT THAT DOWN, YOU IDIOT!**_ Those are dangerous experiments, not toys!"

"TREE!" Dosu screamed, grabbing the wheel and jerking it hard just in time to keep the van from crashing. "KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD, YOU LUNATIC!"

Mizuki gasped and whipped back to the front, veering the van to regain control. From the back, there was a crashing sound followed by a pair of painful cries. "Ha! Serves you right!" Mizuki snorted, not bothering to look back. "Now put those things away and don't touch anything else!"

In the back of the van, however, Kin and Zaku were hardly paying attention. The sudden movement of the van had sent both them and the box sprawling across the floor, spilling the box's contents. Luckily, it seemed that every ball had its safety lock on, keeping any of them from accidently opening…

…all except for Subject 626's ball, which had been dropped from Kin's hand, only for the heavy cargo box to fall on top of it during the near crash.

Gingerly, the two lifted the box, praying the ball hadn't been crushed.

The ball rolled and wiggled, it's occupant still desperate to get out.

"Oh, thank sweet Arceus, it's not broken," Kin sighed.

Then the ball rolled over, revealing a big crack along the ball's center button.

"Oh f# k!" Zaku said.

The ball exploded open in a flash of light, followed by wave of fire.

**-0o0o0-**

"You didn't go through Riverscar Valley?" Naruto asked.

Hinata shook her head. "My father refused to allow it, because there were reports of Luxay packs in the area. He said it would be irresponsible to let me go through such a dangerous area."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all glanced at one another in awkward silence.

"Well, hard to argue there," Sakura admitted, looking over at Sasuke's Shinx.

The four had decided to let their Pokémon out, seeing that they were away from the town and it couldn't cause any trouble. Some of their teammates hanged close to their respective trainers; Akodo shadowed Sasuke on his right side, casting jealous glances at Bayushi, who was following Sasuke at his left. Others decided to mingle with members of other teams; Sakura was pleasantly surprised when Togashi walked over Ochako and started happily chatting with her as the two walked together. Sora was riding along atop Tetsu, having the Beldum float ten feet above the ground before jumping off in desperate attempts to fly. Even Kubo had decided to hop along next to Kikyo and keep her company, having noticed the shy Ralts stay by her trainer's side as the other Pokémon socialized.

Naruto looked at their assembly of Pokémon, and something occurred to him. "Hinata, I didn't think about it before, but Kikyo's your only Pokémon, right?"

"Uh, yes, she is," Hinata admitted. "Since I took the bus past Riverscar Valley, I didn't have many opportunities to catch another Pokémon." She twiddled her fingers, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Well in that case, the next Pokémon we find's gonna be yours!" Naruto proclaimed, smiling widely and winking at her.

"What?" Hinata said, blushing.

Sasuke and Sakura both had looks of surprise their faces as well.

"Who says I agree to that?" Sasuke asked bluntly, glaring.

"Quiet. You already have three teammates," Naruto said. "And Sakura and I have two (not to mention her egg). It's only fair to let Hinata have first pick next. We're a team, after all!"

"It sounds like you're giving her a pity-catch," Sakura said sternly. "Trainers don't need someone else to let them catch a Pokémon."

"No, he's not being condescending," Hinata said, a bit red on the cheeks. "Don't read an intention into an action that isn't there. If anything, it is…very thoughtful and generous of you, Naruto." She looked over at Sakura and Sasuke. "Naruto is saying we should help one another. That we should _take care_ of one another."

Naruto nodded. "Exactly! There's nothing wrong with having someone else watch your back!"

"Hmph," Sasuke snorted. "Besides, what if the next Pokémon we find isn't one Hinata likes?"

A cacophony of caws- up ahead, it looked like a murder of Murkrow were mobbing another Pokémon that had curled up helplessly on the ground.

"Speak of the Devil, look, Pokémon for Hinata to catch," Sasuke said sarcastically.

"Ah shut up!" Naruto snapped. He ran over to the mob, shouting and waving his arms.

"Naruto, wait, we don't know what's going on! For all we know, they could be driving off an egg thief" Sakura pointed out.

"It doesn't matter! It's no fair for all of them to be ganging up on a single Pokémon!" Naruto shouted; he turned to the flock, shoving into and trying to break up the mob. "Hey, you taught him a lesson, now leave him alone!"

Several Murkrow broke off their assault on the prone Pokémon only to turn around and start mobbing Naruto, while Sora and Kubo started trying to fight back.

"That went as well as expected," Sasuke said. "Bayushi, Akodo, Togashi, go and help-"

Sasuke was cut off as several Murkrow started divebombing him, and then doing the same to Sakura and Hinata! Their Pokémon fought back, but the mob of birds attacked them at all angles, leaving them disoriented and confused.

Just as a Murkrow was about to attack Hinata, Kikyo grasped her trainer and Teleported; the two vanished and reappeared in a swirl of sparkling light, now on the other side of the Murkrow mob.

"Oh, good thinking!" Hinata gasped, realizing that the Murkrow hadn't noticed their new position yet. She thought for a moment, considering her option. "Okay Kikyo, use Dazzling Gleam, and try to aim high." She turned back to the commotion and shouted, as loudly as possible, "Everyone, drop to the floor!"

"Ralts!" Kikyo punctuated Hinata's order with a brilliant flash of lavender light. Shining with the sun's brilliance, the Ralts loosed a salvo of light rays into the Murkrow murder, aiming high as her trainer ordered. The attack had the intended effect- wherever a ray landed, Murkrow scattered wildly, screeching in pain and fear as they attempted to evade the supper effective attack. Soon, the murder scrambled off, no longer enjoying things now that it was clear that their victims could fight back.

"Char!" Togashi shouted, hitting one Murkrow that was straggling with a Flamethrower. Scoffing, Togashi turned and helped up Ochako, whom the sadistic Flying-types had attempted to mob especially hard (and would have succeeded had Togashi not been protecting her). Indeed, Togashi himself was bruised and battered hard, though the Charmander forced himself to stoically ignore the flurry of pains echoing across his body.

"What a bunch of horrible monsters!" Sakura said, kneeling to check up on her crew. Tetsu had also been hit badly, as his Psychic-typing made him vulnerable to the Murkrow-line's Dark moves. Sakura herself was not in good shape, having gotten scratched and pecked all over by the aggressive birds. "Ouch, darn it, we might have to head back to the Pokécenter!"

Sasuke grunted, but realized she was right; aside from Hinata, all of them had been hit hard by the mob, Pokémon and trainer alike. He glanced at Akodo, who had somehow managed to grab a Murkrow by the throat and pin it down, eyes glowing threateningly each time the bird struggled. "Akodo, spit that out- you have no idea where that filthy thing's been," Sasuke ordered, all the while giving his Pokémon an approving smile.

Akodo got off the Murkrow, which started to hiss aggressively at Sasuke. The Shinx responded by slamming into it with a Spark. Following that, the bird had the good sense to scramble off and fly away.

"Hey guys, you okay?" Naruto asked, looking from Kubo to Sora. Both of them seemed to have gotten out of that scrap in relatively good shape. Kubo had the sense to jump onto a branch away from the main fighting and start throwing Water Pulses at the enemy instead of staying in the thick of things, while it looked like the Murkrow had mostly attacked Sora by diving bombing his thick forehead- which would be like trying to chop down a tree with a feather. In fact, it was Naruto who was in the worst shape out of all of them, with deep cuts and scratches all over, though he was barely paying any attention to that.

He turned to Hinata, who had walked over to the curled-up Pokémon that the murder of Murkrow had been mobbing. Gently, she turned the unconscious Pokémon onto its back, examining it. "He's breathing," Hinata said, sighing in relief.

Naruto took a step closer. The unconscious Pokémon looked like a brown, bipedal hedgehog with a green spiky shell on its back and head. "Hey, that's a Chespin!" Naruto said, recognizing it.

"Uh, what should we do?" Hinata asked. "He's been hurt, and I'm not sure how badly."

"Come on, let's get off the road and we can patch everyone up," Sakura suggested.

Hinata was about to carry the Chespin over to the rest of the group, but the unconscious Pokémon floated upwards, curtesy of Kikyo's telekinetic aid.

Sakura and Sasuke spread out a blanket and set up the medical kit with help from their Pokémon.

"We're very lucky Togashi protected Ochako from the Murkrow," Sakura said, and then added, "And don't think I didn't notice you shielding her, Togashi. That was brave and smart of you. She's the team medic; if she goes down, we're all in trouble."

"Charmander," Togashi said simply, looking away and blushing slightly.

Ochako smiled, gently rubbing a vine across the many injuries he had sustained shielding her. "Chi-Chika" she sang, using Heal Pulse to patch up the worst of it.

"Don't overdo it," Sakura warned. "We'll have to spread the healing out among everyone. Focus on closing the deepest cuts to avoid infections, and we'll just use bandages and ointments for everything else. And speaking of cuts," she added, pointing at Naruto, "you're up next."

"What? Why?" Naruto asked. He pointed at the Chespin. "Take care of him first!"

"Because you're covered in cuts!" Sakura exclaimed, pointing wildly at several points all over his body. "Seriously, you might bleed out if we don't deal with those now!'

Blinking, Naruto looked himself over, and realized he was in incredible pain. There were burning aches everywhere. Not to mention a lot of blood- _**lots**_ of blood. There were cuts on his arms and hands, on his face, his back…

"Ah no!" Naruto gasped, looking at his chest, which had been cut up deeply at several points, causing blood to drip all down his front. "This was my favorite shirt! Now it's ruined!"

"You'd better be joking," Sakura growled, forcing him to sit and take his shirt off so Ochako could get to work.

"Wait! What about-?" Naruto gasped, reaching atop his head. "Where's my hat? Those buzzards better not have stolen it!"

Next to him, Kubo tugged gently on his trainer's jacket, holding Naruto's hat up. It had been knocked off and ignored during the fight.

"Oh, thank you!" Naruto gasped, reaching for it.

Sakura stopped him, pointing out he might want to wash his hands first…unless he wanted to get blood all over it. "Ugh, I don't know if Ochako's up to all this," Sakura said, looking over at everyone that needed treatment. "Even if we ration Heal Pulse to treat only the major wounds, that's still a lot of work for a single Pokémon."

"Kikyo can help…maybe," Hinata said softly. "She knows the healing move Life Dew…though we've never really used it to treat serious injuries."

"I've never heard of that move," Sakura said, her interest piqued. "How does it work?"

"The user creates a bubble of soothing water and spreads it across injures," Hinata explained. "It seems to work best on bruises and shallow cuts, rather than serious wounds."

"Hinata, you do realize that we're mostly covered in bruises and shallow cuts, right? That move's perfect for right now!" Sakura pointed out. "Kikyo can help deal with the minor injuries while Ochako heals the deeper ones."

Hinata nodded, and they got to work. Concentrating, Kikyo conjured a ball of glowing water; the bubble of water floated in midair before breaking up into several smaller bubbles, which then floated over to each of Kikyo's patients. The bubbles splashed against each Pokémon and human, and the healing water spread across them, causing their wounds to fade slightly as a soothing sensation knit through them.

"Hmm, it can heal multiple targets. That's useful," Sasuke noted, watching as the Ralts conjured a second ball of Life Dew and administered it. He looked down at where a Murkrow had left a nasty scratch; now the injury had healed up as if it were a day old. "But's not nearly as strong as Ochako's Heal Pulse." The Chikorita would have been able to heal the injury completely.

"Hey, are you going to complain about easy healing?" Sakura asked playfully; she had been instructing Ochako on what which of Naruto's injuries she should focus on treating while Sakura herself started bandaging the more minor cuts and scratches.

After a third use of Life Dew, Kikyo staggered backwards, sweating from effort. Healing techniques where among the most taxing for a Pokémon to use, and Kikyo had very little experience using Life Dew to do more than heal a small cut.

"It's okay, Kikyo, you can take a rest," Hinata said encouragingly.

"Yeah, no one's bleeding anymore, and Ochako's treated all the serious cuts and bruises," Sakura pointed out. Behind her, Naruto looked sadly at his bloody shirt, seemingly unconcerned with his chest now a patchwork of healed-up scratches and bruises.

While all this was happening, Hinata herself had been busy looking over the little Pokémon they had rescued. She had never seen its species before, though Naruto had referred to it as a 'Chespin'. Luckily, it seemed the Chespin's injuries were shallow, concentrated on its tough back, which was covered in a green armor. Likely, the Pokémon had curled up and protected its more vulnerable parts when the Murkrow murder mobbed him. Kikyo's Lew Dew healing had lightened most of the bruises and cuts significantly, so it looked like he was going to be okay.

"What sort of Pokémon is that anyway?" Sakura asked, pulling out her Pokédex.

"Chespin, the Spiny Nut Pokémon," it chimed in a feminine voice. "Chespin possess a thick yet flexible and relatively light armor that has incredible durability and impact absorption. They have been known to survive direct hits from cars with minimum injury. A Chespin's armor and quills are normally soft, however, only hardening when it flexes them."

"Heh, he really is a tough little nut," Hinata said, tracing her hands carefully across the unconscious Pokemon's body in a slow, deliberate way. Her hands were aglow with Aura, as were the girl's eyes.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked. "Healing him?"

"A professional Aura Guardian could, but I'm not nearly at that level yet," Hinata admitted, careful not to break her concentration. "But I know how to help encourage the flow of aura through the body to promote natural healing and sooth pain."

A memory in Naruto's head clicked in place. "Hey, you were doing that when you pulled me out of the river!"

"When Kikyo pulled you out," Hinata corrected. "And y-yes. I used Aura to help push the water out of your lungs and bring you back to consciousness."

As if on cue, the little Chespin coughed, his eyes fluttering open. Hinata carefully set him down and backed away, giving him room. "H-Hello," Hinata said softly, waving a hand.

"Chespin?" the Pokémon said, looking around confused.

"Hey, we saved you from those Murkrow," Naruto said, smiling. "Well, Hinata did most of the work, actually."

"That's not true," Hinata said quickly. "You got hurt the most, after all."

"Yeah, but you and Kikyo drove them off; I just ran in and got everyone attacked," Naruto pointed out.

"Chespin-chesp," the Chespin said, blushing and he looked at them with big eyes. It all seemed a bit overwhelming. He wasn't sure what to think, in fact, other than he had to be grateful to these strangers. "Chespi-cheschesches -Chespin…." he whispered, muttering to himself as he tried to make sense of everything.

Kikyo sensed the Chespin's distress, and decided to take action, walking over to him and gently holding out her hand. "Ralts," she said, offering to help.

After receiving the Chespin's permission, Kikyo gently touched him on the forehead, psychically connecting them. Confused thoughts slowed down, images and memories were traded, and a moment later, Kikyo backed away and smiled.

"Chespin!" the Spiny Nut Pokémon cheered, turning to the humans and bowing in gratitude.

"Heh, having a Psychic-type must really help with communication," Sakura said.

Something gently bumped her in the back of the head, and Sakura turned around to see Tetsu giving her as jealous a look as a ball-and-socket with an eye could give. It was actually pretty cute.

"Brrrrl?" Tetsu whined gently.

"I'm sure your Psychic powers are going to be amazing when they develop," Sakura said, patting him on the head.

"Brr!" he cheered, looking as happy as ball-and-socket with an eye could.

Kikyo gently took Hinata's hand and pointed over at the Chespin, as if explaining something.

Nodding, Hinata turned to the others. "Apparently, the Chespin was napping up in a tree

when he accidently fell off his branch and into a Murkrow's nest. Then the momma bird got mad, drove him out, and then called up the whole flock to chase him down."

"Chespin!" the Chespin confirmed, nodding with wide eyes.

"Man, now I want a Psychic-type. It'd be great to have a Pokémon that can tell you what your team is trying to say," Naruto said.

While Sakura and Naruto continued to be in awe at the potential of Psychic communication, Sasuke had other concerns. "That's nice. Now let's move on to important stuff," he said bluntly. "One, as much as I hate to say it, we should probably head back to the Pokécenter and rest there for the day. Even if our injuries are mostly healed, our teams are tired from that little encounter, and our happy little healer could use a rest." He motioned at Ochako, half-asleep and nodding off as Togashi tried to help her sit-up straight. "And two, what are we going to do about the Chespin? Because if Hinata isn't going to catch him…" Sasuke trailed off, pulling a Pokéball from his belt and holding it out towards the Chespin meaningfully.

"Chespin!" the Pokémon cried, diving behind Hinata.

"Don't you dare!" Hinata said sternly, glaring daggers at Sasuke as she held the Chespin protectively.

"Then catch him and be done with it!" Sasuke said, rolling his eyes as he put the ball away. "It's obvious you're going to, so let's stop wasting time with the drama and just get moving!"

"Way to ruin a moment," Naruto said, looking derisively at Sasuke.

Sighing, Hinata released the Chespin and looked him in the eyes. "D-Do you want to be the first Pokémon I catch?" she asked, smiling nervously.

For a moment, it looked like the little Chespin would burst with joy as he staggered back and gasped…and then that's exactly what he did, bawling like a baby as he nodded vigorously.

"ChespiChespinChesChespin!" he cried quickly, bowing repeatedly.

"Easy! Easy!" Hinata said, holding up her hands. "I'm just as happy as you are!"

"Yeah, settle down, little dude! Breath!" Naruto added, playfully patting Hinata's newest Pokémon on the back.

Once the Chespin had calmed down, Hinata pulled out a Pokéball and let him tap it, capturing him without any trouble. She let out a warm, sunny smile. "M-My first capture, a-and it was a very special one, too!" She happily called out her new Pokémon.

"Hey, you're right," Naruto said, looking at each of his friends. "We all saved our first Pokémon, rather than capture them in the traditional way. You saved your Chespin from those Murkrow. Kubo and I saved Sora from the river (and you saved us all from it). Sakura helped Tetsu with a nail, and Sasuke rescued Akodo from the gang of Shinx bullying him. That's pretty cool, when you think about it!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You pointed that out before, you know."

"Yeah, but that was before Hinata caught her first Pokémon. It's just neat that we all followed the pattern!" Naruto said.

** "AHHHHH!"**

-_**CRASH!-**_

_** -HONK!-**_

"…that's not a good sound," Naruto said

The cacophony of crashing, honking, and screaming quickly became louder.

"Definitely not a good sound," he repeated, stepping off the road…and then pulling the others back with him when they failed to follow.

A black van tore into view, veering as it hurtled towards them. It rocked wildly to one side, threatening to tip over as a jet of fire tore open a hole through the roof. Sasuke looked at the hub, and realized the driver was in a panic, with his seat set aflame. And then, light flashed from inside the vehicle, and the driver and his passenger disappeared.

"Move!" Sasuke shouted.

Everyone scattered out of the way. Sasuke grabbed Sakura by the arm and nearly pulled her off her feet because the girl had stopped to scoop up her egg, with Togashi lifting Ochako over his head in an adrenaline rush and following close behind them. Thinking quickly, Naruto motioned for the group to get behind the tree-line, listing off as everyone passed him.

"SasukeSakuraEggTogashiOchakoTetsuBayushiAkodoSoraKuboHinataKikyo- shoot, where's Chespin!?"

Back at the side of the road, Hinata's Chespin was staring at the oncoming van in a state of shock, having never seen anything like it before.

"Get out of the way!" Naruto shouted. He tried to jump after the Chespin, but Hinata grabbed him by the arm.

"Don't!" she shouted, emphasizing her order by using Aura to strengthen her grip as she pulled him back.

"But-!"

Before Naruto could say anymore, Kikyo suddenly Teleported next to the Chespin, grabbed ahold of him, and Teleported again, next to the others now.

"…clever girl," Naruto admitted.

_** -CRASH!-**_

The flaming van slammed into a tree, shaking it so bad Naruto feared it would topple over for a second before the vehicle came to a thunderous stop.

"Shoot, we have to put out the fire!" Naruto said, order Kubo to use Water Pulse and for Sora to try and smother the flames with dirt. "Sakura, check on the driver!"

"Don't bother," Sasuke said, moving to help Naruto. "Just before the crash, I saw them Teleport out of there."

There was a crashing sound from inside the back of the van.

"Well, it sounds like someone's still inside," Naruto said, running over to the back and trying to pull it open. "Darn it, it's stuck!"

"Here, let me help," Hinata said, grabbing hold and pulling with him.

Sakura noticed Sasuke looking the van over, a frown on his face. "Sasuke, what's wrong?"

"…why would anyone drive on an abandoned, dirt road in the middle of a forest, when there's a highway that leads to the same destination on the other side of the lake?" he said, talking to himself. He knelt in front of the van, and pressed a switch just above the license plate, which then fell off. "Quick release switch on the plates…criminals use them to change license plates when the cops are looking for them."

"…what are you suggesting?" Sakura asked cautiously.

At the back of the van, the stubborn door wouldn't budge.

"Man, I wish I had a strong Fighting-type right about now!" Naruto grunted, looking over his shoulder. "We'll have to bash this door open!"

Unfortunately, neither Naruto or Hinata noticed that the banging inside the van had stopped…or that the door was started to glow with heat.

Hinata's Chespin, however, did notice. "Chespin!" he screamed, grabbing both trainers with Vine Whip and pulling them away from the door just as a stream of fire melted through it.

An explosion of flames and smoke flung open the doors, followed by a Pokémon jumping out as black Pokéballs scattered everywhere. The renegade Pokémon landed on Hinata's Chespin, pinning him down without even trying. The Chespin gasped, looking up at the other Pokémon, frightened and confused.

"Hey, get off of him!" Naruto shouted. The smoke cleared, and he got a better look at the Pokémon. "What the- a Quilava!?" He started to pull out his Quick Ball.

The Quilava scoffed disdainfully and jumped off Hinata's Chespin. Naruto thought it was going to attack him and staggered back, dropping his ball, but instead the Fire-type landed next to an open, black Pokéball and smashed it. Satisfied, the Quilava leapt away, using a downward-aimed Flamethrower to propel himself past the tree-line.

"...what the Houndoom was that?" Naruto said, bewildered as he retrieved his Quick Ball.

Nearby, Chespin stared at the forest where the Quilava had run off to, a shocked expression on his face. He jumped up to his feet, turning to Kikyo. "Ches-Chespin," he said urgently, explaining something.

Kikyo listened, and then nodded, looking over at Hinata, her eyes a glow. Her trainer gasped, getting the telepathic message, and Kikyo turned back to the Chespin, grabbing hold of his hand. With a nod from her trainer, the two Teleported.

**-0o0o0-**

The air above Teakgrove Lake rippled with a flash, and Mizuki and the Sound Trio materialized, crashing into the water. Kin's Bronzor, Bijou, also Teleported with them, though she remained floating.

"We're alive!" Zaku cheered, looking around wildly. "I thought for sure we were going to die in a burning car crash! What the hell was wrong with that fire breathing demon, anyway?!"

"It was a genetic experiment fighting for its freedom. What do you expect? It to be nice?" Dosu grunted sardonically. He looked around. "Where's Mizuki?"

The white-haired man broke the surface, gasping for breath. "Help! I can't swim!"

Swearing, Dosu helped Mizuki stay above water as the swam to shore.

Once they were on land, Mizuki turned to Kin angrily. "Why'd you go and Teleport us into the lake!? We'll have to walk all the way back to the crash site! You should have just dropped us off behind the van!"

"Oh yeah, that's a brilliant idea; Teleporting in the middle of the woods where there are all sorts of things you can run into while moving at 50-miles-per-hour! Picture it: bumpity, bumpity, bumpity, bumpity, SPLAT!" Kin said, slamming her hands together for emphasis. "You maintain velocity while Teleporting, moron! Even hitting water at that speed should have killed us; the only reason we're alive it because Bijou was smart enough to Teleport us high enough in the air so she'd have time to slow us down telekinetically before we hit the lake!"

"…whoa, that's actually pretty smart, Kin," Zaku gasped. "We're so luckily you trained Bijou to think of those things, or we'd be dead!"

"Okay…okay, fair enough," Mizuki admitted. "So, can she just Teleport us back to the crash site?"

Kin scoffed. "Not likely. One, we have no way of knowing where we crashed, and two, more importantly, Teleporting four people without preparation and then keeping them from going _splat_ immediately afterwards was hard enough for her." She pointed to Bijou, who had fallen face-down on the ground and was already napping.

"Fine, we'll just walk and…follow the road…until we…find the crash site?" Mizuki trailed off, looking straight ahead. In front of them, about a quarter of a mile away, was the highway…the one on the _other_ side of the lake. "Houndoom it all…she Teleported us to the wrong side of the lake!" Mizuki shouted, letting out a series of explosive swears. "We're over ten miles away from where we were!"

"Huh, no wonder Bijou's exhausted," Kin mused, completely nonplussed.

"Don't you realize what this means?" Mizuki shouted. "Its going to take us hours to find that van! What if someone else finds it first and takes the cargo?"

"Relax, you said yourself, that road's been abandoned," Zaku pointed out.

"Not any more," Dosu said suddenly.

The others turned to him.

"Just before we crashed, I noticed there were a bunch of trainers on the side of the road. By now, they must have found the cargo of Pokéballs. Even if they don't realize they're being smuggled, chances are they've already called the police. By the time we get there, we'll be too late."

A gagging sound escaped Mizuki's throat. "No…nonononononono! NO! This can't be happening! I was responsible for that shipment! It's _**my**_ hide on the line! If the boss finds out I lost that shipment…if the boss finds out-!" He turned to Dosu, grabbing him by the front of the shirt. "You have to help me fix it! You three are the reason I crashed in the first place! You _**owe**_ me!"

"We don't owe you anything," Dosu said firmly, pushing the man away. "As far as the rest of Team Snake is concerned, you were driving alone and crashed your car. We weren't on a mission with you, so it'll be your word against ours. I doubt the boss will care much for your excuses."

"You miserable little-!" For a second, a look of murderous rage flashed across Mizuki's face. But just as quickly, it crumbled against Dosu's unflinching gaze. The boy would not be threatened into helping him…so Mizuki decided to beg. "Please…please…please help me! If I lose this shipment, it'll be my head!"

"Hmm," Dosu looked over at Zaku, and then at Kin. "When this started, we agreed to owe you a favor if you drove us to Teakgrove City. What was that phrase you used to describe the situation?"

"'Nothing in this world is free,'" Zaku quoted.

"Right, 'nothing in this world is free'," Dosu said, turning back to Mizuki. "Well, that philosophy applies here. We help save your hide now…you owe us. You owe us bigtime. Deal?" Dosu held out a hand.

"Deal!" Mizuki agreed, grasping the offered hand and shaking it.

"So, what's the plan?" Kin asked. "Are we going to try and steal the balls back from the police?"

"That's way too risky," Dosu said, dismissing the idea. "And we have no idea what's happening to the van or the cargo right now. No, we'll have to send a scout to find where the van crashed and report back what's going on. Then we can plan what to do next." He looked over at Zaku. "Call out Nightwish and have him Fly you over to the other side of the lake. Find the van, and find out what's happening. Are the cops there yet, or did the punks who were near the crash decide to steal the Pokémon for themselves? Once you've found out what's happening, Fly back here and we'll decide what to do next."

Zaku did an exaggerated salute and called out his Golbat.

**-0o0o0-**

Having successfully put out the fire, Naruto and the others stood together and discussed what to do next.

"What's with all the Pokéballs?" Sakura asked, picking up one and looking it over. "Are they being transported?"

"Why would anyone drive 'em around when you can just digitalize them and send them through the PC system?" Naruto pointed out.

"Because they're being smuggled," Sasuke said. The others looked at him questioningly, so Sasuke explained, pointing at each fact he listed. "Black Pokéballs being transported in a black, unmarked van, easy-to-change license plate, and driving along an abandoned dirt road when there's a freeway nearby that's faster and easier. That all points to Pokémon smuggling."

"…you just put that all together right now?" Sakura asked, looking at Sasuke admiringly.

"My dad wants me to get into law enforcement- it's a family tradition. He makes me study all his case files and drills me on legal proceedings. I guess it paid off," Sasuke said, shrugging. He scoffed, and then added, "He nearly flipped when Itachi dropped out of the police academy and opened up a tea shop. After that, Dad started pushing really hard for me to make detective, like he did."

"Right…so, Sasuke's freaky family life aside, I guess we need to call the cops?" Naruto pointed out. "We should gather up the balls, too."

"There's something else," Hinata said. She pointed at the melted doors to the van. "What about that Quilava?"

"I'm going to guess that it got loose and attacked the driver, hence the crash," Sasuke said simply. He noticed the look on Hinata's face. "What, do you want to catch him or something? It's rare, but after everything that happened, I figured we'd have other things to worry about."

"That's not what I mean," Hinata said firmly. "That Quilava was badly hurt! We need to help him."

"What do you mean? How could you tell?" Sakura asked. "Naruto was the only one who got a good look at him, and the smoke hadn't fully cleared."

"Well, there was something odd about him, but I can't put my finger on it," Naruto said. "I was too panicked with him charging at me, but I know there was something strange about him!"

Hinata shook her head. "Naruto isn't the only one who saw him. It was my Chespin who was closest to him, and he noticed that his chest was badly bruised, like he had been slammed into something during the crash."

"How do you-? Wait, let me guess: your Psychic-type told you," Sasuke grunted.

"Yes," Hinata said, nodding. "Then Kikyo and Chespin decided to Teleport after the Quilava."

"Why would they want to help him? He pinned Chespin, lunged at Naruto, and set fire to the forest before running off. Not exactly the best first impression," Sakura pointed out.

"Because he's hurt and lost; that's reason enough," Hinata said. "If he is a smuggled Pokémon, then he could have been stolen from his trainer, or maybe he's been abused or experimented on. It's not right to just abandon him."

"He's also clearly dangerous," Sakura pointed out, holding up the broken remains of the Pokéball he had smashed before fleeing. "From the looks of it, this was his; he obviously does not want to be captured again. Even if we offered him help, I doubt he'll accept it."

Naruto stepped up. "Hinata's right- it's a trainer's responsibility to help any Pokémon in distress, even if they don't want your help." He looked at Hinata. "Come on, let's go Quilava hunting!"

"What about the smuggled Pokéballs, the police," Sakura said angrily. "We can't just drop everything!"

"Then don't; you and Sasuke deal with this, and we'll save that Quilava," Naruto said, clapping Hinata on the shoulder and flashing a mischievous grin.

"I know what you're scheming! You just want that Quilava for yourself!" Sasuke said accusingly.

"Duh. I was planning on chasing after him before Hinata pointed out he was hurt! When else am I going to find such a rare and awesome Pokémon?" Naruto said shamelessly. "The fact that we're helping him makes it all _serenade-ious_!"

"You mean serendipitous," Sakura pointed out flatly.

"I've heard it both ways." Naruto turned to Hinata. "You don't mind me catching him, do you?"

"…well, we're going to have to catch him anyway to take him to the Pokémon center, so I guess it's okay," Hinata said.

Sasuke growled and rolled his eyes. "Fine, do what you want." He walked away started picking up the scattered Pokéballs, before looking over at Sakura and grunting, "Call the cops already."

"Come on," Naruto said to Hinata, leaving as Sakura pulled out her Pokénav to make the call. Kubo and Sora followed close behind them.

Sakura finished her call and told Sasuke the police told her it would take about an hour for them to arrive (they had been able to determine her location with her 'nav), to which Sasuke just grunted. Sighing, Sakura decided to just help Sasuke gather up the balls. "How many do you think there are?" she asked, trying to keep some sort of conversation going.

"How would I know?" Sasuke said simply.

Wincing, Sakura looked back at the van. "Let me see if there's a list or something." She stepped inside the back of it, looking around.

Sasuke looked up and rolled his eyes disdainfully. "What sort of idiotic criminal would keep something as incriminating as a list of smuggled Pokémon-?"

"I found something!" Sakura said suddenly, jumping out of the van with a tablet. It was blackened from the fire and had a cracked screen, but it was still working. Sakura fiddled with it. "Yeah, it has a list of each Pokémon- uck! According to this, they were all experimented on! Some of these were really horrible!"

That bit of information caused Sasuke to pause. "…well, it's a good thing we're here to rescue them, right?"

"Oh, these poor things," Sakura sigh, sitting on the back of the van as she read through the list. "There's one Pokémon subject that needs assistance breathing…and another one has uncontrollable mood swings! Who could knowingly do this to Pokémon?"

Ochako hopped up next to her and tried to snuggle reassuring against her trainer.

"It's a cruel world," Sasuke offered blandly. Oddly, Sasuke found himself wishing he could offer something more. He looked around, not sure what to do as Sakura continued to read through the list. After a while, an idea came to him. "Hey, send that to your teacher."

"What? You mean Prof. Tsunade?" Sakura asked, looking up.

"Yes. She's an incredible medical doctor. She'll be able to do a lot more with that list than you," Sasuke explained.

"Hey, that's a great idea!" Sakura said, looking much more hopeful than she was a moment ago. "I'll have to call her first and explain. Then I'll email it her! Thank you Sasuke!"

Sasuke allowed a small smile to play across his face. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Bayushi smirking at him, and Sasuke forced his face back into a frown. "Ah, shut up."

Bayushi just smiled evilly.

Ignoring the Eevee, Sasuke glanced back at Sakura and the tablet. "…if that thing has that detailed list of experiments on it, I wonder if it has even more information about Team Snake's operations?" he mused to himself. Technically, Sasuke had no reason not think Team Snake was involved in this, but he automatically assumed most crimes of Pokémon experimentation and smuggling involved the team. "If it does…man, Dad's going to be so proud of me-" he paused, correcting himself "-proud of _**us**_ for finding it!"

A hundred feet away, up in a tree, Zaku lowered his binoculars and looked over at his Golbat. "Houndoom it, they found the manifest! We can't let them keep it, or we're dead!"

**-0o0o0-**

"Hey Hinata, I just realized something," Naruto said as they cut their way through the woods. They had managed to catch up with Hinata's Pokémon, and were now following the Quilava's trail of charred wood and ash. Occasionally, there was the sound of a fiery explosion from up ahead; encouragingly, they were sounding closer and closer.

"What is it?" Hinata asked as Naruto climbed over fallen tree.

"It's just that you haven't named your Chespin yet," Naruto pointed out as he held her over the tree.

The revelation was so shocking Hinata nearly fell over. "O-Oh! I didn't mean to forget," she stammered, looking over at her Chespin apologetically.

"Chespin-Chespin!" her Pokémon gasped, holding up his hands as if to say 'That's alright!'. Next to him, Kikyo nodded in agreement.

"It's not a bad thing. I mean, as soon as you caught him, we were almost hit by a truck!" Naruto pointed out. "And it's not like you can think of his name right now!"

"Chespin!" Hinata's Chespin said, agreeing with Naruto.

A series of explosions sounded off, this time very, very close. They were also punctuated by a chorus of pained cries…ones that undoubtedly came from Murkrow.

"That's just up ahead!" Naruto said, leading the group forward.

They came across a clearing. One that was now a fiery battlefield.

A murder of Murkrow, likely the same one from earlier, was attempting to mob the Quilava. _**Attempting**_ being the operative word, as the Quilava had other ideas. Screaming like a demon, the Fire-type fought the murder with fang, claw, and fire. He grabbed one Murkrow as it attempted to divebomb him and used it as a shield against another, burning three more with a single Flamethrower; the blast was much more explosive and forceful than could be considered normal, Naruto noticed. More Murkrow attempted to gang up upon the Quilava from behind, driving him to the ground, only to be blasted off by the Quilava releasing fire from his flame-vents. He jumped to his feet, releasing a challenging roar for the rest of them to try and take him.

Now Naruto realized what was different about this Quilava. Instead of having dark blue-green fur on his face and back, the creature before them had a black coat, with prominent red markings around his flame-vents. He was an intimidating sight, and even injured, the Murkrow who could still fight were hesitating to continue. Irritated, the Quilava roared at them again, punctuating his challenge by releasing an explosion of scarlet flames that lit up everything around him. With that, the Murkrow apparently decided they'd taken enough of a beating and flew off. Smirking, the Quilava fired a steam of flames after them.

"Black and red, the universally established warpaint of _He Who Is Not To Be Messed With_," Naruto joked aloud without thinking about it.

"Look, he's hurt," Hinata said urgently.

The Quilava turned to face Naruto and Hinata, noticing them for the first time. Automatically, he bared his teeth and lit his flame-vents, ready for a fight. Even so, Naruto could tell Hinata was right. The Quilava's chest was badly bruised, and each breath he drew was labored and difficult, though Naruto couldn't tell if it was because of the injury or because he was exhausted from fighting off the Murkrow murder. A dozen cuts, scrapes, and other injuries covered his body- he might have been able to drive his attackers away, but the Quilava was in no shape to be celebrating. Even so, the Quilava refused to show weakness, growling hatefully and tensing for another fight.

"Whoa, there, buddy!" Naruto said, holding up both hands. "We're not here to hurt you- we just want to help- AHH!"

Without warning, the Quilava blasted a Flamethrower at Naruto. Luckily, Kubo reacted like lightning, throwing a Water Pulse into the flames- the fire was doused, but the steam and concussive force was enough to make Naruto to jump backwards.

"What the Houndoom was that for?!" Naruto demanded. "We're trying to help you!" Kubo jumped before his trainer and readied another Water Pulse, with Sora running up next to him, preparing to charge forward.

"QUIIIIIIIL!" the Quilava growled hatefully, making it clear he didn't want their help. He drew in another deep breath, likely for a Flamethrower, but stopped, coughing and falling to his knees, his flame-vents sputtering for a second before going out.

"Stop that!" Hinata said, stepping forward. "You're going to kill yourself if you keep that up!"

"Chespin ches," her Chespin said, walking over and offering an understanding hand towards the injured Pokémon.

Far from moved by the gesture, the Quilava scoffed and lit his flame-vents. The vents blazed for about half a second before choking out, and Quilava to fell to the floor. He struggled to his knees, glaring hatefully at the Chespin.

"Ch-Chespin!" Hinata's Chespin insisted, telling the Quilava that he needed help.

The Quilava continued trying to light his flame-vents, struggling so hard he fell to the floor.

Kikyo peaked out from behind Hinata's legs; she had jumped behind her trainer as soon as the Quilava first lashed out. The Fire-type was sending waves of anger and hate that the Ralts could feel even without trying. Yet she sensed something else. Pushing her fear aside, Kikyo opened herself to the Quilava's emotions, letting them wash over her. At first, it was a just a flood of red-hot anger, but just as Kikyo expected, she felt something else within him. Something she had not expected. Gasping, Kikyo grasped Hinata's hand to speak to her telepathically. _…Anger, trying to hide it all, but I see wounded pride underneath that…and fear, beneath it all, hidden from even himself…_

Hinata thought about what Kikyo had told her for a moment, and about what Sasuke had mentioned. If this Quilava was being smuggled, that was a sure sign his owner wasn't a very good person. It was also safe to assume that the Quilava hadn't been treated kindly, to say the least. Of course he'd be angry and scared- he probably was thinking that Naruto and Hinata were going to hurt him, just as every other human he knew had. The soft and quiet approach would only make him suspicious. So, Hinata decided to try a different method.

"Enough, you're not going to prove anything to anyone by doing that," she said in a firm, even voice. Strong enough to assert authority, but not condescending or pitying. It was easy to tell that the Quilava would react poorly to pity. "We're just going to treat your injures. Nothing more. Kikyo, use Life Dew on him, please."

"Quil!" the Quilava insisted, snapping at Hinata.

"He's not going to cooperate," Naruto said, putting a hand on Hinata' shoulder. "Maybe we should just knock 'em out first?" Behind him, Kubo raised a Water Pulse orb threateningly.

Kikyo and Chespin gasped at the suggestion.

"No," Hinata said evenly, motioning for her two Pokémon to remain calm. "Just…hold him down, please."

"Chespin," her Chespin nodded, restraining the Quilava with Vine Whip.

The Quilava fought desperately to get freed, and even managed to bite down on a vine before Kubo and Sora moved in and grabbed a hold of him. Even Naruto started to help out. "Do you want to die, you psycho?" the blond grunted, trying to ignore how his hands were already slick with blood as he and the others held down the screaming Fire-type.

While the group started to administer medical treatment to their unwilling patient, they didn't notice a pair of Murkrow land on a nearby branch. Behind them, their murder's Honchkrow alpha landed on another branch, giving the whole situation a judging eye.

"Krowkrow!" the first Murkow tattled, saying that the Quilava was the 'mon that had bullied them. The second one joined in, accusingly pointing at Hinata and Naruto and explaining that they were the humans that had saved the egg thief they'd been chasing.

The Big Boss Pokémon scoffed disdainfully. _Was that so?_

Hinata was walking around the group to inspect the Quilava's injuries from the other side when she saw a blast of billowing darkness rushing towards the helpless Quilava.

"LOOKOUT!" she screamed, jumping between the Quilava and the Dark Pulse attack. She drew all the Aura she had into a flicking shield. The shield took the initial hit, but even then, the Dark Pulse had enough force to knock her ten feet backwards.

And then all hell broke loose.

**-0o0o0-**

"There, Tsunade just received all the information on the experiments," Sakura explained happily. She was still sitting at the back of the van, holding her Pokénav with the tablet nearby.

"Good," Sasuke said simply, gathering up the few remaining black Pokéballs he could find. The ones they found were back in the crate, which seemed the best place to keep them until the police arrived. "Say, how many balls are there supposed to be?" Sasuke asked as he deposited what he had gathered into the crate.

Sakura turned the tablet back on and counted. "…fifteen, unless not all of them were listed."

"We've got thirteen here, plus the Quilava Hinata and Naruto went after, leaving only one missing," Sasuke pointed out, looking around. "Do you see the last one anywhere?"

Sakura shook her head, and Sasuke ordered his team to spread out and see if they could find it.

"Maybe it fell out of the van before it crashed?" Sakura suggested. "Don't worry about it too much; I'm sure the police can handle it."

"We're the ones who found this; we should get credit for finding them," Sasuke said quietly to himself. He looked up and saw Sakura skimming through the tablet again. "Hey, maybe you shouldn't be messing with that anymore."

"Why?"

"Because it's broken and its evidence," Sasuke pointed out. "If you somehow cause it to crash or die and the lose all its data, think of what that would mean."

"But we sent the medical info to Tsunade, so that's safe" Sakura pointed out.

"Yeah, but there could be other stuff on that thing; information regarding who was doing the smuggling, where they got the shipment from, where it was going- that sort of thing," Sasuke explained.

Sakura sighed, put the tablet down next to her, and went back to her Pokénav. "Fine; I had to send the medical data to my email so I could send it to Tsunade, so I read through that."

"Or you could help me look for the last ball," Sasuke pointed out in a deadpan voice.

"But Sasuke, this is really interesting…even if it is horrible that someone would do this to Pokémon," Sakura said with a playful whine. "Like this one: Subject 625! This one has a unique immunity to pheromonal and mental attacks that protects it from being affected by moves like Taunt or Attract. Apparently, it sounds like they gave the Oblivious ability to a Pokémon!"

"Hmm, fascinating," Sasuke said, looking under a bush. He spotted something dark and round. "Ah, found it." He reached out and grabbed the object. Sure enough, it was the familiar smooth, cool touch of a Pokéball.

"Yeah, well, I think the idea of being able to give a Dewott such an ability is just amazing!" Sakura said insistently.

"-did you just say 'Dewott'?" Sasuke asked, turning the ball over in his hand to see the number '625' branded on the front.

"Yes…why?" Sakura asked, peering over at Sasuke, who had his back to her. "Did you find it?" she asked excitedly.

"…no. No, it was just a rock." The lie escaped Sasuke's mouth before he could help it. Gulping, he quickly picked up a rock with his right hand and showed it to Sakura, while still holding the black Pokéball out of her view.

"Shinx?" At Sasuke's left, Akodo looked at his trainer questioningly, having seen the whole affair. Sasuke gulped slowly, trying to tell his Pokémon not to say anything without tipping Sakura off.

The sound of rapid wingbeats suddenly filled the air. Everyone turned to find out what was happening, only for a horrible, piercing screech to fill in their ears.

The wave of sound hit Akodo directly, causing the Shinx to hiss and swipe at unseen foes madly. Sasuke realized it was a Supersonic attack.

"Ambush!" Sasuke shouted, though it was obvious at this point.

Their assailant was a Golbat, who was attempting to hit their teams with another Supersonic, only for Togashi to drive him back with Flamethrower. As the giant bat and Togashi circled one another, Akodo continued to attack in Confusion, nearly hitting Sasuke with Spark. "Akodo, get ahold of yourself!" Sasuke ordered, jumping backwards.

Bayushi ran between them, ready to fight, but Sakura intervened. "Ochako, Aromatherapy!"

The Chikorita's perfumed mist did the trick, causing the Shinx to regain control of his senses. However, Sasuke was more concerned with the Golbat, which was now throwing Air Cutters wildly. One landed on the van right next to Sakura, causing the girl to scream and dive to the ground.

"Akodo, put a stop to that thing!" Sasuke ordered.

Growling at the chance to prove his mettle, the Shinx leaped into action, quickly climbing up a tree and launching himself at the Golbat, who was too busy dodging Togashi's Flamethrowers to notice him until the Shinx had rammed into the Golbat with a Spark attack.

"BAAAAAA!" the bat screeched, staggering back and then flying away in a panic.

Akodo made a perfect four-point landing and grinned, looking rather pleased with himself. He turned back to his trainer, who was helping Sakura to her feet.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke asked.

"I think so," Sakura said slowly. She looked off in the direction the Golbat had fled. "What was that about?"

"The Zubat line is notorious for attacking people without provocation; you need repel just to get through a cave without them swarming you," Sasuke said. He looked around, trying to see if anything was amiss…and then glowered, kneeling down.

"Ah no!" Sakura gasped, noticing what Sasuke had found; the smuggler's tablet had been hit by one of the stray Air Cutters, breaking it in two. "Sasuke, I'm sorry! It's my fault- I should have put it away like you said-"

"No…don't worry about it," Sasuke said, his voice a carefully neutral. "It was…just a freak accident," he added slowly. However, privately, he was wondering just how luckily the smuggler was that the main piece of evidence was now destroyed.

"Well, at least we still have the medical info," Sakura pointed out.

Sasuke nodded, then turned back to their Pokémon. "Good job everyone. Especially you, Akodo," he added, giving a meaningful look to his Shinx. "I can always depend on you to have our backs."

"Shi-shinx," Akodo said, looking hesitant for a moment before bowing respectfully to his trainer.

While Sakura was somewhat puzzled by the exchange, Sasuke just smiled and reached into his jacket to feel the ball containing the Dewott, which he had been able to hide away during the confusion of the Golbat attack.

**-0o0o0-**

Before Naruto could start to run to Hinata's prone form, a flurry of black feathers shoved its way past him. It was a Honchkrow, which swooped down, seized the Quilava by the throat, and then flew up into the air. While the Honchkrow attacked the Quilava, Naruto found himself being assaulted from behind by one of the Big Boss Pokémon's Murkrow minions. "Getoffame!" Naruto shouted, slamming his back into a tree.

"BAAAAAG!" Sora roared, rushing to aid his trainer. Something long and wet quickly wrapped around his middle and pulled him backwards, just in time to evade a divebomb attack from the second Murkrow. Kubo landed in front of the Bagon, pulling his tongue back in before quickly motioning for Sora to back him up.

As the chaos around him erupted, Chespin backed away, scared and unsure what to do. Everyone was under attack, except for his trainer, who was laying on the ground unconscious- at least Chespin hoped she was just unconscious. Kikyo was by her side, trying to administer Life Dew and wake her up, but the Ralts had already spent a lot of her energy healing everyone else. Everything was going wrong!

Chespin looked back at the situation. Kubo had lassoed the one Murkrow with his tongue and brought it down to the ground, so that Sora could attack it in melee.

Meanwhile, Naruto had forced the Murkrow attacking him off his back, and was now warding it off by swinging his backpack at it.

Even up in the sky, as the Honchkrow gleefully throttled the Quilava, the weakened Fire-type was still clawing and biting at his captor's talons. Chespin couldn't be the only one doing nothing!

Chespin's was acting before he realized it, pulling himself into the air with Vine Whip. Something about his trainer's rescue of him flashed into his mind. _Didn't she say 'aim high'?_ Chespin thought as he swung himself up close to Honchkrow.

"Krow?" the Big Boss squawked in confusion as the airborne Chespin twisted himself so that his spines were pointing towards its face.

"Ches-PIN!" The Grass-type launched a Pin Missile assault, blasting the Honchkrow in the face at point-blank range.

The Honchkrow screamed in agony, dropping Quilava as it fell backwards, trying to shield its damaged face. Before the Fire-type could hit the ground, Chespin grabbed him by the hand, he himself hanging from the branches by Vine Whip. "Chespin, Chesche?" Hinata's Pokémon asked, checking to see if the Quilava was okay as he lowered him down.

Quilava responded by angrily shouting that he didn't need his pity. He dropped to the ground, doing his best to keep his knees from wobbling.

"HONCHKROW!" The Dark-type had recovered and returned to the air, screaming for vengeance. Blood was streaming from its left eye, which was tightly shut. For a brief second, Chespin felt guilty over the injury, but then the Honchkrow screamed at him again, promising to punish him horribly for this. Then the Big Boss Pokémon turned towards Kikyo and the unconscious Hinata, and then back at Chespin, smiling horribly. It drew in its power, loosing a Dark Pulse at the helpless trainer.

It was a split-second decision; Chespin threw himself in the way of the blast. He was knocked down, falling to the ground and skidding several feet. He winced, trying to force himself up. In the distance somewhere, he could hear Naruto screaming at the monstrous Honchkrow, and more blasts and fighting, but his senses were disorientated, with everything spinning.

Then a new sound pieced through the haze. A war cry of unrelenting rage and hate. A burning light flashed on, blinding Chespin for a moment. Then he realized it wasn't a light. It was fire.

Focusing, Chespin was able to look up just in time to see the Quilava unleashing the biggest inferno of flame he had ever seen. It wasn't just hitting the Honchkrow. It was consuming it so much that the enemy Pokémon couldn't even be seen amid the flames. The Quilava's flame-vents were not just lit- they were blasting out flames twice as big as before. Chespin wasn't sure how the Quilava was doing it. A moment ago, he was too injured and tired to even let out a spark. Now, it was like he was going to consume the whole forest in flames. And all all the while, he was screaming from high heaven to low hell.

Finally, the flood of flames ebbed. The Quilava collapsed, grasping and hacking up smoke. As Hinata's Chespin ran to him, Naruto noticed the Honchkrow's burnt form land some distance away, still smoking. The bird's minions noticed too, as they both had already flown the coop. Scoffing, Naruto swung his backpack back on and ran to Hinata's side.

"How is she?" Naruto asked Kikyo.

"Ralts," she responded, sending waves of reassurance and calm to Naruto. _…She is just stunned…her Aura shield blocked most of the attack…_

Naruto let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you!" he said, reaching over and giving the Ralts an affectionate pat on the head. He noticed that the small Pokémon was exhausted and sweaty, barely able to stand. She must have used all her energy to make sure her trainer was alright. "Man, you all pulled double-time today; you're getting the best meal there is when we get back to the Pokécenter!" he promised, turning to look at his own crew as well. As he did so, Naruto came across Hinata's Chespin and the Quilava.

"Chesi Chesche," Chespin said, stroking the other Pokémon on the back, as if trying to tell him to take it easy.

"Quilava," the other Pokémon said in a dark, threatening tone. Naruto couldn't speak Pokémon, but he was pretty sure it translated to something like 'I hate you'.

"Yeah, we love you too, you punk," Naruto grunted. "But seriously, you've got to lay down- what are you doing?!"

The Quilava had forced himself to his feet. Hinata's Chespin had tried helping him, but he was shoved away. Then the Quilava took one step forward, and then another. Slowly, purposefully, the Fire-type forced himself to walk over to Hinata and Naruto.

Naruto tensed, and Sora and Kubo both moved to block the Quilava, but Kikyo called out to them, asking them to move aside. Confused, they obliged.

Ignoring everything else, the Quilava kept his purposeful walk forward, until at last he was next to Hinata. The Fire-type hesitated, then looked at the unconscious girl and steeled himself, ripping the Ultra Ball from her belt.

"Wait, are you-?" Naruto began.

With a look on his face that suggested he already regretted what he was about to do, the Quilava caught himself.

**-0o0o0-**

…**Several Hours Later…**

**-0o0o0-**

Once the police arrived, things seemed to blur together for the next few hours. Hinata had been allowed to rest at the Pokécenter with their teams, but Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke had to give statements about what had happened. The officers questioning them were somewhat skeptical of their story, especially Naruto's part, but luckily, one of them was a member of the Uchiha family. So after giving their statements, the heroes were free to go.

"It must be nice having a family that's so connected in law enforcement," Sakura said as they made their way to the Pokécenter.

"Hmph, half the time, the low-ranking family members are resentful when they meet me; we're just lucky this guy didn't decide to try and get me in trouble out of spite," Sasuke pointed out.

"Hey, thanks for going along with my story, guys," Naruto said.

Before the police arrived, Naruto had convinced the others to not mention that the Quilava was one of the 'mons being smuggled. Instead, they told the story as if he was one of Hinata's Pokémon. Sakura was hesitant to lie to the police, but Sasuke had instantly agreed, so she caved in as well. The fact that Sasuke was so eager to lie to the police was shocking to Sakura; in fact, she thought that Sasuke had gotten nervous when questioned about how many Pokemon they had managed to find, and if any were missing. But that was silly, Sakura realized. Sasuke had nothing to be nervous about!

They found Hinata and their teams in the Pokécenter's recreational area. To Naruto's relief, it looked like Hinata was perfectly fine. "Hey Hinata, feeling okay?"

"I'm just fine," Hinata said, smiling gently. "I'm sorry for making you all worry."

"Is every day with you going to involve reckless danger?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto angrily elbowed him, then changed the subject. "The cops congratulated us for being good citizens and let us go. They said they'd call our parents, though, to let them know we'd helped save smuggled Pokémon."

Hinata blushed at the thought. "We were lucky to be in the right place at the right time." She turned to look off in the corner. "W-What about him?"

She was talking about the Quilava- no, _**her**_ Quilava, who was sulking silently in the corner. The center had been able to heal up his injuries, though Hinata was warned that he should avoid strenuous activity for at least a few days, if not longer.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well…we might have told the police that he was your Pokémon, rather than one of the experiments being smuggled. Considering _Screamy the Quilava _caught himself, I guessed it would be important to you to keep him."

Hinata nodded. "Y-Yes, it is…I'm sorry you had to lie for me."

"Think nothing of it. It's what friends are for," Naruto said happily. "But seriously, I'm not even sure why he even did that, after all the hell he raised trying to refuse our help!"

"I suppose you know?" Sakura asked playfully, looking over at Kikyo.

The Ralts blushed and nodded.

"Y-Yes, I was able to get him to explain himself," Hinata said. "Well…he wasn't willing to say anything about his past, but…he said that he never saw a human care about a Pokémon. He didn't think that a human would ever protect a Pokémon. So, he was shocked that I stepped in to protect him, even though I had no reason to. So, I guess you could say he feels that he owes me, for protecting him…and he had never seen Aura powers before, and wants to see more." She smiled softly, and added, "And even though he won't admit it, I think he was impressed with how my Chespin moved to save him and me both."

"Ches!" her Chespin cheered, looking very proud of himself.

From his corner, the Quilava growled angrily, insisting that was a lie!

"Well, lucky you!" Naruto said happily. "You started the day with no captures, and ended it with not one, but two Pokémon. Both of them are brave and loyal, and both of them starters, too! So…what are you going to name them?" he asked, suddenly changing the subject.

Hinata laughed gently. "Actually, I did decide on a name for both of them." She turned to her Chespin first. "After some talking, we decided on Midoriya; it means 'green valley'."

Midoriya smiled proudly, puffing out his chest.

Naruto nodded, and pointed over at Quilava. "And what about pouty in the back there?"

"Well, he didn't seem to care about his name, so the rest of us-" Hinata motioned to Midoriya and Kikyo "-decided on Katsuki."

"Katsuki? Doesn't that mean victory?" Sakura pointed out.

Hinata nodded. "Exactly! That's why I thought it suited him."

From his corner, Katsuki allowed himself a very small smile.


End file.
